One of my favorite painters of all time is Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin.  His still lives exhibit a sensitive rendering of shape, texture, and color.  But one painting currently in the Louvre has creeped me out since I first saw it years ago: The Skate/Rayfish.  As many of you prepare to head to the beach today, enjoy this totally awkward, incredibly WTF still life.

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, The Skate/Rayfish, before 1728, oil on canvas.  Musée du Louvre, Paris 

Here’s the companion piece, submitted with The Skate/Rayfish in 1728 to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.  A much more tame, pretty picture.

 Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, The Buffet, before 1728, oil on canvas.  Musée du Louvre, Paris