the year in review

an ekphrasis: White Crucifixion, Marc Chagall, 1938

Marc Chagall: White Crucifixion, 1938, Oil on canvas, 154.6 x 140 cm, The Art Institute of Chicago

In 1938, Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was working in Paris. Meanwhile, in Germany, synagogues were being burned, Polish Jews were being expelled, and in November, the pogrom known as Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) occurred.

Year in Review 
“Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 
Pilate's placard inscription on the Cross - John 19

                    1938 
Chagall the Jew 
understood: his 
Jesus on the Cross 
wears a tallit: as he
knew that He 
     knows who He is: 
that we also
     know who He is:
that we might then
     understand 
what it is                  
        2024



tallit: a prayer shawl worn by religious Jews