Where to See Attributes of the Arts with a Bust of Mercury

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin arranged this still life featuring artistic tools and a bust of Mercury, representing the arts and their attributes. The composition showcases his mastery of texture and quiet, contemplative subjects.

Chardin was known for lifting everyday objects and still life to high art through his refined technique. This allegorical work hangs at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

It's at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Russia. The museum has a fine collection of French 18th-century art.

The objects symbolize the arts. Chardin often painted such allegorical arrangements featuring artistic and scholarly tools.

The objects represent the visual arts: drawing, painting, sculpture, and architecture. Chardin arranged them as an allegorical tribute to artistic practice, rendered with his trademark quiet precision.

Attributes of the Arts with a Bust of Mercury

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The Artist

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More by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin

The Attributes of Painting and Sculpture

The Silver Goblet

The Buffet

Still Life with Cat and Rayfish

Also at Pushkin Museum

Hercules and Omfala

Dancers Backstage

The morning toilet of a young man

Interior with Two Women and a Child

A Lean Diet with Cooking Utensils

A Chemist in his Laboratory (A Philosopher giving a Lecture)

Still Life of Kitchen Utensils

Satire on Physicians

The Birth and Triumph of Venus

Madame de Pompadour

Study of a Woman's Head

Diana Leaving the Bath

The Bathers

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Portrait of King Louis XV

The Swing

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