Jean Siméon Chardin (1699-1779) (after) Le Bénédicité. 1744. Engraved by Lépicié. 267x380mm. Bocher 5. Good proof on laid paper, trimmed on the plate cut, washed, restored and finely lined. Tiny epidermal marks and traces of surface rubbing. The original painting was exhibited at the Louvre in 1740, but four versions are known: the one in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, dated 1744, is the only one to be signed, lower left. The National Museum in Stockholm holds another version dated 1749. Finally, the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam has a variant with an additional figure on the left. The influence of Dutch genre scenes is particularly evident in Le Bénédicité, which depicts the simple, virtuous life of the working bourgeoisie. However, anecdote is not excluded: the little boy in the foreground has just reluctantly abandoned the drum on which he was banging to devote himself to his pious prayer.