Detail View: The AMICA Library: The Attributes of the Arts
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AMICA ID:
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MIA_.52.15
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AMICA Library Year:
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1998
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Object Type:
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Paintings
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Creator Name:
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Chardin, Jean Baptiste Siméon
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Creator Nationality:
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European; French
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Creator Role:
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painter
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Creator Dates/Places:
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1699 - 1779
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Gender:
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M
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Creator Name-CRT:
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Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin
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Title:
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The Attributes of the Arts
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View:
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Front
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Creation Date:
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1766
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Creation Start Date:
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1766
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Creation End Date:
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1766
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Materials and Techniques:
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oil on canvas
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Dimensions:
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H.44-1/2 x W.57-1/4 in.
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Component Measured:
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canvas
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Measurement Unit:
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in
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AMICA Contributor:
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The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
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Owner Location:
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Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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ID Number:
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52.15
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Credit Line:
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The William Hood Dunwoody Fund
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Inscriptions:
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SIGNATURE
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Rights:
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Context:
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This picture may appear to reproduce the casual clutter of an 18th-century tabletop. Not so. Chardin carefully selected objects to convey specific meanings. A palette with brushes, placed atop a paint box, symbolizes the art of painting. Building plans, spread beneath drafting and surveying tools, represent architecture. An ornate bronze pitcher alludes to goldsmithing, and the red portfolio symbolizes drawing. The plaster model of J. B. Pigalle's Mercury, an actual work by a friend of Chardin's, stands for sculpture. The cross on a ribbon is the Order of Saint Michael, the highest honor an artist could then receive. Pigalle was the first sculptor to win it. So this painting sends multiple messages: it presents emblems of the arts and of artists' glory and honors a specific artist, Pigalle. A still life (or painting of objects), which is composed from scratch by its creator, can be used to convey complex meanings. Acquired in 1952 52.15 |
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Related Image Identifier Link:
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MIA_.111c.tif
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