# The Prayer before Meal [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [CHARDIN, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 50 x 38 cm ## Commentary The Prayer before Meal 1744 Oil on canvas, 50 x 38 cm The Hermitage, St. Petersburg The younger child obediently repeats the prayer after the mother while the older girl is more concerned with food. The didactic meaning of this common 18th-century subject is obvious. ## Related artworks - [A Child with a Teetotum]() - [A "Lean Diet" with Cooking Utensils]() - [A Vase of Flowers]() - [Attributes of Music]() - [Basket of Peaches, with Walnuts, Knife and Glass of Wine]() - [Draughtsman]() - [Fruit, Jug, and a Glass]() - [Game Still-Life with Hunting Dog]() - [Girl with Racket and Shuttlecock]() - [Grapes and Pomegranates]() - ['La Brioche' \(Cake\)]() - [La Gouvernante \(The Governess\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()