White Crucifixion by Marc Chagall  White Crucifixion was painted by Marc Chagall in the year of  Chagall created this painting shortly after the breakout of Nazi pogroms and massacres against Jews in November  Chagall’s painting depicts an example of a typical Nazi invasion against Jews.

Chagall’s White Crucifixion painting takes place during the day in a Jewish village that is being invaded by Nazi soldiers. This painting was created in the 1930’s, and depicts an example of what Nazi attacks were like during the time.

Chagall draws the audience’s attention to Christ which is pictured to be the largest figure in the painting

Chagall depicts Christ to be very debilitated and weak for his eyes are closed while his head hangs low

The villagers appear to be in terror while running away from the soldiers. Their mouths are open and their hands are held to their faces indicating their fear and shock. Soldiers located in the far left of the painting appear to be holding red flags similar to the ones used by Nazis in war.

Chagall uses the color white for Christ’s clothing

Included in this painting is a villager who is wearing green and is running away from the soldiers invading and attacking the village

Chagall includes a villager who is wearing blue, and running away from the Nazi attack occurring before him

Chagall uses significantly darker colors for the clothing of the soldiers that contrast with the brighter colors used to paint the clothes of Christ and the villagers

Chagall makes the faces of the soldiers barely visible unlike the villagers and Christ. Villagers running in fear appear larger than soldiers pictured to the far left of the painting which diverts the audience’s attention away from the soldiers

Nazi soldiers are left in the darkness while the light in the painting focuses on the villagers and the crucifixion of Christ

Chagall includes houses in which the soldiers set on fire The Star of David symbol is a symbol of the Jewish religion and is included to indicate the building set on fire by the soldiers is a Jewish Synagogue

Chagall includes a ladder next to the crucifixion of Christ

Angle of painting focuses on the crucifixion of Christ and makes viewer feel as if they are looking down at the scene

CCLAPS: Character: In this painting, Christ is being crucified in the center. He appears weak, debilitated and almost powerless. His hands and feet are nailed to the cross, with his eyes closed and his head hanging down. Christ’s suffering parallels that of the Jews who had to face the oppression inflicted by the Nazis during as their numerous attacks against the Jews. Jews felt powerless against the armies of Nazis during the Holocaust and Christ reflects this exact condition experienced by the Jews for he is depicted as a debilitated being in the painting. Christ’s suffering correlates to the suffering of the Jewish villagers pictured beside him who are running away in terror from the Nazi attack. The villagers included in the scene hold their hands to their faces with their mouths open indicating their terror with all the events they are witnessing. They represent all Jews who experienced the same depicted fear, in having to face life-threatening encounters with the invasions and punishments the Nazis inflicted upon them. Meanwhile, in the far left corner, there is a group of soldiers with their arms raised with weapons and carrying red flags, very similar to the ones carried by Nazi armies during the Holocaust. The soldiers included in the painting represent Nazi armies, for they hold red flags very similar to the ones used by the Nazis. However, the soldiers’ faces are not as clearly visible as those of Christ or the villagers included throughout the painting. The way the soldiers are painted with their faces hidden from the audience reflects how people such as the Jews thought that, after all the crimes the Nazis committed against the Jews, they should not have had a face to show to society. Color: In the background, the Jewish villagers and Christ are painted with bright colors, while the Nazi soldiers are depicted with significantly darker colors. Christ is wearing white clothing. White represents innocence, and with Christ being crucified and punished, Chagall uses Christ to represent how Jews were innocent and had done nothing wrong, however the Nazis chose to blame them and unjustly punish them for their country’s problems. With the title of the painting being White Crucifixion, Chagall reveals that the painting is mainly about how the innocent Jews were punished by the Nazis for their country’s problems, even though they were not responsible causing them. Chagall uses green for the Jewish villager in the bottom right. Green represents life, and since the man is running away, he represents all the Jews back then who ran away and hid from the Nazi’s to save their lives, knowing that if the Nazis found and got a hold of them, their chance for survival would be at risk. Also, in the bottom left corner, there is a man dressed in blue who is running away from the Nazi attack. Like the sky, blue represents freedom, and by having the man wear this color, the man represents how Jews wanted to gain freedom away from the Nazis, and further contributes to the painting’s aim of highlighting the wrongdoings against Jews, one of them being their act of denying Jews of their freedom such as when they forced Jews to go to concentration camps. By having the Nazi’s painted in dark colors, Chagall emphasizes their cruelty and immorality. Furthermore, by including the sharp contrast of color between the villagers with Jesus Christ and the Nazis, Chagall juxtaposes the cruelty of the Nazis with the innocence of the Jewish people who were punished unjustly.

Light: The light of the painting focuses mainly on Christ being crucified and the villagers, while the Nazi soldiers who are attacking the village are left in the darkness. Chagall uses light to represent hope, and with this light focusing only on Christ being crucified and the Jewish villagers, it shows how there was still hope for an end to oppression of the innocent Jews who were suffering from the Nazis’ immoral discrimination and mistreatment against them. However, this focus of light can also reflects the perspective of the Nazis, because similar to how the light focuses only on Christ and the villagers suffering, the Nazis focused only on their one goal, which was to punish the Jews for causing their country’s misfortunes, even though they did not cause them. Angle: The angle of the painting makes the viewer feel as if they are looking down at the scene. This angle reflects the artist’s opposition against Jewish martyrdom, and in a way, reveals how Chagall, in a way, looked down upon the Nazi armies’ absence of morals in the their injustices against the Jews. Additionally, the angle of the painting focuses on the crucifixion of Christ, allowing the viewer to direct their attention to Christ, and relate to the suffering of Jews, and realize how the oppression inflicted the by Nazis was getting out of control and even costing many of the lives of Jews which is represented by the crucifixion of Christ. Proportion: Christ occupies the majority of the picture, which further highlights the suffering of Jews instead of the Nazis. The painting depicts the soldiers to be very small and in fact, as seen on the far left at the top of the pictures, the soldiers are so small, and yet they are still partially cut out from the picture. Chagall does this to divert attention away from the Nazis and instead focus on the suffering of Christ and the Jews. However, he still includes the Nazis to remind the audience that the they are the ones who performed the attacks and caused all the Jews’ trauma shown in the painting. Through his use of proportion, Chagall allows the audience to further relate to and acknowledge the suffering all the Jews were faced to encounter during the Holocaust.

Placement: On the far left of the painting, there is a house that is set on fire by the Nazi soldiers. The house symbolizes safety, and with it being in flames, it represents how the Nazis took away the safety and security of Jews during their attacks and invasions. Meanwhile, on the far right of the painting, there is a Jewish synagogue set on fire by another Nazi soldier. The Jewish synagogue is a place of worship for Jews, and by having it engulfed with flames in the painting, Chagall uses the burning synagogue represent how the Nazis unjustly discriminated against the Jews for their different beliefs and worships. Chagall includes these buildings on fire to bring attention towards the Nazis’ absence of morals in punishing the faultless Jews. Additionally, Chagall includes a ladder next to the crucifixion of Christ to represent how all of the Nazis’ wrongdoings and mistreatment against innocent Jews inevitably led to their suffering and even death, as represented by the crucifixion of Christ. Setting: This painting takes place during the 1930’s, more specifically, during the Holocaust, and depicts a Nazi attack against a Jewish village and features the crucifixion of Christ. By having the painting take place in a village, which people usually consider as a secure location, Chagall uses the painting’s setting to represent that even the places Jews thought were safe, such as their homes in their communities and villages, still turned out to be endangered by Nazi attacks and invasions. This demonstrates how Jews no longer possessed the safety their homes and communities entitled them, because the Nazi’s unjust discrimination against the Jews deprived them from their basic rights such as safety and even privacy. All in all, Chagall’s main claim that he conveys in his painting is that the innocent Jews unjustly suffered from the Nazis’ immoral actions of mistreatment and discrimination.