Probably one of the most remarkable example of this "forever spinning" series is the Chardin's Boy with a top, a master piece of the French XVIIIth century painting that can be seen in Le Louvre.
Jean Siméon Chardin (1699-17791), Boy with a top/L'enfant au toton, ca 1735
This painting belongs to the
Genre painting (Scène de genres). By looking at the different parts of this work one can better approach Chardin's talent and intentions.
1-Portrait and elegance
Chardin portrayed a boy, Auguste Gabriel, second son of the jeweler Charles Godefroy. It was not so current to make children portraits though the interest for childhood may have raised within the century (
J.J Rousseau,
Emile, ou de l'Education). The two details below reveal first the mastering in the portrait technique with a very expressive face (concentration, sight, light smile, purity...) and secondly the elegant gear worn by the boy (silk shirt, the jacket with large sleeves, the ornamented buttons...). This elegant clothing and the head covered with a wig reflect well the fashion in France among the higher classes in the mid of the 18th century. This style will slowly vanish with the Revolution.
2-Still life?
The books, the ink bottle and the feather represents what is normally considered as a
still life in painting more precisely known as
Vanitas: the writings remain by contrast to the transience of life usually represented by a clock, a candle light or a skull… here instead, Chardin painted a spinning top (
toton) which contrasts to the static objects laid on the table in the background. But before being a symbol, the top here is at first a game plaid by kids for centuries. When the top stops spinning, it falls on its edge and one reads the letter to know who wins and who looses. This group of objects may be seen as a revisit of the still life genre with an intention to insert the topic into a dedicated moment of daily life (?)
3-Detail in the foreground
In the drawer left slightly ajar, one can see a special pen used by a designer. The same object can be seen in another Chardin's painting The young designer/
Le jeune dessinateur, 1738, Le Louvre. This table is a versatile item that may be used to play, write but also to draw... A familiar piece of furniture part of Chardin's life or home place telling us that the artists is in a way involved in this scene.
4-Subject or Object
Under this angle, the diagonal of this detail corresponds exactly to the boy's line of sight. He looks totally absorbed by the spinning top, waiting till it stops an falls on the table. Some have interpreted this intense relation (boy/top) as the relation between the painter and his model. In such a case the top is well the subject of this painting as the model is for the Artist. Could we see here Chardin himself staring at his model when working at his easel or drawing table?...
