The reflections of the famous artist Marc Chagall about the modern world are embodied in one of his best paintings, “The White Crucifix”. This is a tragic work written after a series of Jewish pogroms that occurred in Germany.
Marc Chagall's painting “The White Crucifix” is a worrying foreboding of even more tragic events taking place against the background of irreconcilable anti-Semitism. Along with Picasso's work “Guernica”, “The White Crucifix” seems to anticipate the inhumane events of the Holocaust.
Jewish images in the work of Chagall
Marc Chagall, author of the famous painting "The White Crucifix" is a famous Russian and French avant-garde artist of the twentieth century.
In addition to painting, Chagall wrote poetry in Yiddish and was engaged in scenography. The Jewish roots of the artist became decisive for his work. The continuous persecution of the Jewish people was actively reflected in the paintings of Chagall.
As a student of Yudel Pan, a prominent figure in the field of painting, Mark Zakharovich took over from him the idea of what a national artist is. Chagall actively visualizes Jewish folklore and Yiddish sayings. Even in Christian subjects, features of a Jewish interpretation are visible. We are talking about such paintings as "The Holy Family", "Dedication to Christ" and others.
History of creation
The White Crucifix was written in 1938. The creation of the picture was preceded by the so-called "Crystal Night", also known as the "Night of Broken Windows". On the night of November 9th and 10th, the young Nazis organized a series of pogroms among Jews living in Central and Eastern Europe. In just one night, more than ninety Jews were killed, hundreds were crippled, and thousands were subjected to numerous insults and humiliations. Synagogues, as well as all Jewish enterprises, ruthlessly smashed or set fire to. Schools and hospitals were robbed, and buildings were destroyed by sledgehammers. In addition, thirty thousand Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Some of them died from severe beatings within a few weeks. The survivors were later released on condition that they would soon leave Germany. However, there is no data on how many people managed to break out of the country.
The damage inflicted by the Germans totaled about 25 million Reichsmarks. Of these, five million accounted for the destroyed shop windows, from where the second name of the night came - "Night of Broken Shop Windows."
Later, Soviet newspapers massively published reports of protests against the "Night of Broken Windows" around the world. At a meeting held on November 15 at the Moscow Conservatory, a resolution was adopted condemning anti-Semitic positions. The protest was supported by the United States, France and Britain.
Being a Jew by nationality, Chagall reacted sharply to political events taking place in Europe. After some time, he himself will almost become a prisoner of a concentration camp, so many of his works of that time bear the imprint of terrible reality.
The White Crucifix is not the only picture painted on this subject. In the late thirties and early forties, Marc Chagall created a series of paintings in which the suffering of the Jews is closely intertwined with the suffering of Jesus. Subsequently, all the paintings were exhibited in a separate room at the Paris exhibition in the Luxembourg Gardens.
The plot of the picture
In the picture "White Crucifixion" there are no real scenes of persecution or persecution. With the help of drawings and symbols, Marc Chagall creates an allegory of past tragic events.
The image of Jesus crucified on the cross is a symbol of the entire Jewish people, forced to endure mortal torment. The head of Christ is crowned not by a familiar crown of thorns, but by tales - a piece of Jewish clothing used during prayer. At the feet of Jesus stands a lit seven-arm lamp of the menorah, which also belongs to the most ancient religious Jewish attributes.
Of great importance is the white ray, which goes from above and as if dissecting the picture into two parts. A ray illuminates Jesus and personifies the destruction of death and victory over it. Looking at the savior, it seems as if he was not dead, but simply asleep. The artist masterfully conveys a sense of calm and hope that nothing can destroy.
At the bottom of the picture depicts the atrocities of the young Nazis - the seizure of houses and Jews, the burning of the synagogue. In the upper part of the Old Testament figure, they are perplexedly watching how the familiar world is collapsing, how miserable people are fleeing, how their homes and shrines are collapsing. The foremother Rachel, as well as the forefathers Isaac, Jacob, and Abraham do not hide tears at the sight of the outrages that are taking place.
Each character of the “White Crucifixion” has a deep meaning, and some characters are known to the public from other paintings. For example, this is a wanderer in green clothes with a bag on his shoulder. He embodies the prophet Elijah or any Jewish traveler. Another symbol is a crowded boat, which suggests the ark of Noah. And this, in turn, gives rise to associations with the hope of salvation from the atrocious Nazis. However, the boat is depicted small, and the passengers are exhausted, which once again makes the viewer understand that the hope of salvation is illusory.
Red communist flags can also be attributed to symbolic elements. It becomes clear that the persecution of the Jewish people was carried out not only in Nazi Germany, but also in other countries.
On the chest of the old man in the lower left corner is a white plate. Initially it was written on it: "I am a Jew." Subsequently, the artist painted over the inscription, in a similar way he acted with a swastika on the sleeve of a Nazi, setting fire to the synagogue.
In the upper right part, a German arsonist takes a Torah scroll from a drawer - a handwritten scroll for weekly reading in the synagogue. Candlesticks and other ritual attributes thrown into the snow, the wall of the synagogue is engulfed in flames. The Prophet Moses in a green robe seems to be trying to "run" out of the picture. A man in black clothes in the left corner in an atmosphere of terrible pogrom is trying to preserve the sacred scrolls of the Torah.
At the very bottom of the picture, a woman with a child in her arms is looking directly at the viewer. The destitute Jewess as if asks - what now to do, where to go and where to hide?
The symbol of the crucifix in the work of Chagall
Marc Chagall uses the crucifix in several paintings at once, so it is important to understand what the artist puts into this image.
In the Jewish religion, the cross is not used as a symbol. The star of David is considered the main emblem of Judaism - a six-pointed star in which two triangles are superimposed. Despite this, Marc Chagall writes in his canvases the crucified Jesus, who suffered and suffered for all of humanity, regardless of religion. The crucifix in this case is a symbol of forgiveness, faith and endless suffering.
The artist carries the image of Christ to the viewer in the paintings "White Crucifix", "Exodus", "Yellow Crucifix" and others. At the same time, the interpretation of the savior in these paintings does not coincide with the gospel. Here it is not the humanized God who sacrifices himself. Jesus at Chagall's collective image - this is the whole Jewish people, doomed to suffering. This becomes logical based on the plot of the paintings - Jewish pogroms and persecutions are everywhere depicted.
