Chardin was the first to introduce the themes of the family, motherhood and housework to French 18th-century art. The heroes of Saying Grace belong to the Third Estate, that class of craftsmen and small traders with whose way of life Chardin was most familiar. The action centres on the table where a young mother is dishing out soup and seeking to make her two daughters repeat the words of a lunchtime prayer. Composed with great care, the painting seeks to portray the artist's ideal of the closely-knit family, of their caring attitude towards each other. He produced a warm and touching image in the younger daughter, capturing the feelings of the child who does not as yet fully comprehend the meaning of the words, making it one of the best images of children Chardin ever created.