An original lithograph created in 1962 by the workshop of Mourlot Freres, to illustrate the book by Andre Sauret "Marc Chagall: Windows for Jerusalem" (1962. Monte Carlo), detailing the creation of the stained glass "Jersualem" windows.
During the late 1950's, Marc Chagall was commissioned to create stained glass windows for Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Centre Synagogue, located in the Judaean Hills of Jerusalem. One window was to represent each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, each with a unique composition. Under the supervision of Chagall, those studies were made into lithographs at the Mourlot studio in Paris and printed in 1962.
Marc Chagall ( 1887- 1985 )was born Moishe Shagal near the city of Vitebsk, Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire.
Chagall was the eldest of nine children. The family name, Shagal, is a variant of the name Segal, which in a Jewish community was usually borne by a Levitic family.
Chagall's art can be understood as the response to a situation that has long marked the history of Russian Jews. Though they were cultural innovators who made important contributions to the broader society, Jews were considered outsiders in a frequently hostile society. Chagall himself was born of a family steeped in religious life; his parents were observant Hasidic Jews who found spiritual satisfaction in a life defined by their faith and prayer.
In 1910, Chagall relocated to Paris to develop his artistic style where he enrolled at Académie de La Palette, an avant-garde school of art. In 1914 he returned to Russia during which time he worked as a stage designer and art teacher, before returning to Paris in 1922.
It was later in this decade he was commissioned by Vollard to illustrate the Old Testament. He used the assignment as an excuse to travel with his family to Israel to experience for himself the Holy Land.
Later, he was to return to Israel to complete his commission for the Jerusalem windows
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