in so far as such subjects are "explicable in terms of natural causation without resort to supernatural or divine intervention" Morris, 2003. p. 5 Morris, Pam (2003). Realism. London: Routledge. ISBN978-0-415-22938-8.
Finocchio, Ross. "Nineteenth-Century French Realism". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. online (October 2004)
Chardin served as a forerunner to the Realist movement in French painting. "Without realizing he was doing it, he rejected his own time and opened the door to modernity". Rosenberg, cited by Wilkin, Karen, The Splendid Chardin, New Criterion. Requires subscription. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
