Art Institute of Chicago
The White Tablecloth
Jean Siméon Chardin (French, 1699–1779)
- Date
- c. 1731–32
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Culture
- France
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
Jean Siméon Chardin won acclaim for the still lifes and quiet scenes of middle-class domestic life that he exhibited at salons sponsored by the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. In early still lifes like this one, he incorporated motifs common to 17th-century Dutch and Flemish works: the foreshortened knife, the handle of which protrudes over the table’s edge; the overturned glass; and the remains of a meal. The work’s unusual shape reveals its original function as a screen for the opening of a fireplace. Viewed at floor level, the screen would have conveyed the illusion of a table recessed into the fireplace.
The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Linked open data
Authority identifiers that link this record into the wider web of cultural data — stable references you can follow to the source.
- Object type
- AAT300033618
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Art Institute of Chicago and other institutions.
Still Life with Fish, Vegetables, Gougères, Pots, and Cruets on a Table
Getty Museum
Still Life with Herrings
Cleveland Museum of Art
Still Life with Peaches, a Silver Goblet, Grapes, and Walnuts
Getty Museum
Kitchen Utensils with Leeks, Fish, and Eggs
Cleveland Museum of Art
Still Life: Corner of a Table
Art Institute of Chicago
Still Life with Asparagus
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Attributes of the Arts and the Rewards Which Are Accorded Them
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Still Life with Game, Vegetables, Fruit, and a Cockatoo
Getty Museum
Still Life
Art Institute of Chicago
Still Life with Herring, Bread, and Cheese
Cleveland Museum of Art
Trompe-l'Oeil Still Life with a Flower Garland and a Curtain
Art Institute of Chicago
The Maid
Art Institute of Chicago