Chagall
There's an exposition of quite a large number (over 100, I would say) of Marc Chagall's paintings at the museum which forms part of the Vittorio Emmanuele Monument which is well worth a look.
Unsurprisingly, as a Jewish artist he painted some wonderful depictions of scenes from the Old Testament. The above shows the Children of Israel eating the 1st passover meal.
And this is a very charming depiction of Abraham being visited by the three angels. Note the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac in the top right-hand corner.
And this is a painting of a synagogue from the early 1930s. You can click on any of these pictures to enlarge them. I think I've spotted a significant detail in the synagogue scene - can anyone else spot it?
6 comments:
*rubs eyes* Am I seeing what I'm seeing? That's astonishing, isn't it?
Is there a crucifix in the sanctuary? Or is that the upper part of unidentified piece of furniture?
That's the thing... this is a picture of a synagogue, but there's what seems to be the figure of the crucified Christ in the middle of it.
The three steps are convention for the Calvary Cross in heraldic use!
Aparently certain Russian Orthodox do not approve of the "Hospitality of Abraham" (cf Andrei Rublev)as a valid (non-heretical) expression of liturgical art, claiming it is a 'Latinizing' corruption (ie heretical) imported from the West. Perhaps Chagall became aware of the unity of Christian faith in its Western forms and attempted to inspire a mini revelation of his own through his art? Do you have a means to contact Elizabeth Lev (American Art Historian based in Rome) she could perhaps answer these questions! Fascinating!
There's actually a second crucifix that he painted by using one of the two pairs of hanging lamps. It's the one to the left (which would be right of the main sanctuary crucifix image.) He uses the lamp and it's cord and then a horizontal bar of blue shading. One can be sure it's not coincidence or unintentional. He's got a very neat double reference there, as the "good thief" hidden to the right of the crucified Christ, plus allusion to lamp of the world (and not hiding a lamp under a bushelbasket).
He's probably my favorite artist of modern times. Nice post!
Wow! That's amazing!
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