Day 77 - White Crucifixion

White Crucifixion is an oil on canvas painting by Marc Chagall which depicts Jesus’s death as that of a Jewish martyr. It was painted in 1938 and is in the Art Institute of Chicago's permanent collection, although it was on loan to the Museo del Corso in Rome until the beginning of 2025. Pope Francis said this was his favourite painting.

Chagall depicts Jesus as a Jew amongst other Jews in trouble. Jesus wears a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl, as a loincloth and around him people are fleeing. Chagall’s hometown of Liozna, near Vitebsk in modern-day Belarus, was pillaged the night Chagall was born in 1887 – this is depicted to the left of Jesus. To the right is a synagogue being looted and burned, because Jews were being persecuted in 1930s Germany at the time Chagall painted White Crucifixion. Chagall implies that the Nazis were as bad as those who put Jesus to death. While Chagall said that Christ represented a typical Jewish martyr, he also depicted the crucified Jesus as a symbol of all innocents being put to death.

In the middle left of the painting, there is a boat filled with people and still today we see people taking to the high seas as they flee from persecution. The figure wearing green in the foreground appears in other works by Chagall; he is interpreted as a Jewish nomad or the prophet Elijah. Also to be seen is a ladder; possibly a reference to Jacob’s ladder.

In both top corners are flags. To the right is a Lithuanian flag, as Chagall’s cultural background was Lithuanian. That country too had rising anti-Semitism in the 1930s. The red flags of communism are on the upper left; communism had outlawed the use of the Hebrew language and was against all religions. Chagall, although raised a Jew, turned his back on his faith later in life.

Many of Chagall’s paintings are filled with dramatic colours, but White Crucifixion is quite bland; nor could it be described as lively or humorous like most of his work. As a modernist, Chagall ignored the usual rules of logic but based his images on emotion and the White Crucifixion definitely fits into that category.

White Crucifixion is not without hope. The beam of light that shines on Jesus from above also touches other figures, indicating that death was not the end for Jesus and need not be for others. It is difficult to see how many candles are lit on the menorah; although I suspect there is more meaning to it than just a Jewish symbol. Perhaps all the candles were extinguished and are slowly being reignited by the beam of light.

This picture should speak to us today as hatred and conflict are perpetuated around the world. We need to follow the advice in the old hymn: in this world is darkness, so we must shine, you in your small corner, and I in mine.

Elaine Kinchin