Terra sebv s acta mvsei sabesiensi s

Musical Images as a Reflection of the Artistic Universalism of Marc Chagall 

 

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colouring of  the action, conveying sacrament of  the wedding rite, and the 

deep excitement caused by the event. The music played at the moment 

when the souls of  the enamoured come into contact with each other in 

Chagall’s works, is suffused with a special spirituality, irrespective of  

whether a lonely violinist plays the motif, or a heavenly orchestra rewards 

the newly-married couple with a Hosanna (fig. 28). It is necessary note that 

during the Jewish wedding under the Chuppah (in the picture Wedding, fig. 

27, its function is fulfilled by red angel’s wings), the lovers are deprived of  

any passion and tenderness, their faces and poses express a deep 

concentration. 

 

 

Fig. 25. The Myth of  Orpheus, 1977. Oil on canvas, 97/146 cm.  

Private collection 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 26. The Meeting of Isaac and Rebecca. Harpsichord’s cover painting, 

1980, 95/299 cm. Nice, National Museum of Marc Chagall 

www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html   /   www.cimec.ro

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L. G. Safiullina, G. I. Batyrshina 

 

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It is music, through which Chagall tries to understand the peculiarities 

of  wedding rites, which allows the viewer to touch the roots of  ethnic 

culture. He vividly describes a ceremonial Russian wedding procession, 

headed by a bored military violinist and elderly guslar (poet-singer) (Russian 

Wedding, fig. 29) and documents a table at Jewish wedding (Jewish Wedding, 

fig. 30). 

Fig. 29. Russian Wedding, 1909. Oil on canvas, 68/97 cm. 

Zurich, Collection of Emil Burle’s Fund 

Fig. 28.  The Wedding, 1944. Oil on 

canvas, 99/74 cm. Private collection 

Fig. 27. The Wedding, 1918. Oil on canvas, 100/

119 cm. Moscow, The State Tretyakov Gallery 

www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html   /   www.cimec.ro

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Musical Images as a Reflection of the Artistic Universalism of Marc Chagall 

 

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These scenes of  everyday life are interesting from the viewpoint of  

Chagall’s reflection of  the psychological characteristics, mood and 

behaviour of  various personages. The Russian wedding procession involves 

emotional states such as the bride’s quiver of  expectation, the peaceful 

sorrow of  the father, the curiosity of  children and run-down passers-by, the 

joy of  the woman following the bride (possibly her mother or kinswoman) 

and the excitement of  the man who has taken alarm in the background.  

They are all united by the melancholic motive of  the instrumental 

duet, creating the impression of  the ceremony, the seemliness of  the event. 

The music played at the Jewish celebratory feast is much more dynamic. 

Although part of  klezmer ensemble, located in the top left corner of  the 

picture, is cut off  by the edge of  the picture, the viewer gets the impression 

of  a fiery partner dance performed in the middle of  the room. The figures 

of  a corpulent woman, heated from these vigorous movements (evidently 

not a Jewess) and her cumbersome partner with awkward, cast up knees, 

stand in stark contrast to the static poses of  the quiet newlyweds and the 

sullen male guests, busy with discussions of  their problems. This satirical 

sketch has, to some extent, an autobiographical character.  

Another rite accompanied by music in Chagall’s art is the funeral, as 

in the picture The Departed (Death), fig. 31. A violinist, sitting alone on the 

roof, sends forth with his melody an excessive expression of  grief, formed 

by the anguished cry of  the woman, and the departed, who is turned 

towards the viewer. In Aliya Reich’s opinion, the musician is a metaphor for 

the painter, the story-teller, narrating what has happened.

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 Reich 2012, p. 59. 

Fig. 30. Jewish Wedding, 1912. Paper, ink, 20.5/30 cm. 

Private collection 

www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html   /   www.cimec.ro

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L. G. Safiullina, G. I. Batyrshina 

 

88

 

 

 

 

 

Chagall’s musicians are direct participants (eyewitnesses) of  epochal 

historical events. Thus, in the picture Revolution  (fig. 17), the ensemble 

placed in the top right corner personifies an independent witness of  change 

in the social-political coordinates of  the state, regarding the event from 

outside.

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 Busy with their peaceful labour of  performing, the musicians 

withstand the acerbic armed battles of  humanity, thus affirming the 

inviolability of  creative activity under any regime.  

Frequently in Chagall’s pictures, musical-sound associations appear by 

means of  conveying plasticity of  movement, through dance (Dance, fig. 32-

33), demonstration (In the Motion [Martial Music], fig. 34) or acrobatic feats 

(Red Horse, fig. 35). These pictures are saturated with a sense of  procedure, 

rhythm and time more characteristic of  music than fine art.  

       

      

                 

   

 

 

                                                 

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 Apchinskaya points out that the revolution for Chagall meant not only a political 

convulsion, but also an internal spiritual revolution. 

Fig. 31.  The Departed (Death), 1908. Oil on canvas,

Paris, National Centre of Art and Culture, Named 

by George Pompidu 

Fig. 32. Dance, 1928. Paper, aquarelle, 

50.5/65.7 cm. Private collection 

Fig. 33. Dance, 1967. Oil 

on canvas, 129/ 80 cm. 

www.cclbsebes.ro/muzeul-municipal-ioan-raica.html   /   www.cimec.ro

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