Artwork of the Week: 'Jacob Wrestling with an Angel' (nd.) by Marc Chagall.

12/18/2018

This week we celebrate a rare find within our collection, 'Jacob Wrestling with an Angel' by Russian-French artist, Marc Chagall.

This painting best exemplifies Chagall's bible illustrations and religious symbolism. Marc Chagall spent most of his life navigating Europe as a Jewish Man during the rise of Nazi Germany, and because of this, his artwork often reflects the tension against Jewish people at the time. 'Jacob Wrestling with an Angel' is one of many paintings that depict this important scene in Jewish mythology; but here, Jacob, the final patriarch of the Jewish Religion, can be thought of as contending with a symbol of the Christian God.