Still Life with a dead Pheasant and a Hunting Bag

A dead pheasant and a hunting bag compose this game still life from 1760 at the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, a late example of the genre Chardin had first mastered thirty years earlier. His return to game subjects in his later career brought the broader, more atmospheric handling of his maturity to subjects he had originally rendered with the tighter precision of youth. The result combines the specificity of his early work with the atmospheric unity of his late style.

The pheasant's plumage receives Chardin's mature handling—broader than his early technique but equally sensitive to the varied textures of feathering. The hunting bag's leather provides material contrast with the organic forms of the bird. The palette is warm and subdued, with Chardin's late technique achieving chromatic richness through layered applications rather than vivid color.