Marc Chagall

Naomi and her daughters-in-law, 1960, Lithograph, 525 x 380 mm, Musée National Marc Chagall, Nice; MBMC429, ©️ RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY

Solace

Commentary by Heather Macumber

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Read by Ben Quash

This sepia-toned lithograph is one of five scenes from the book of Ruth featured in Marc Chagall’s Drawings for the Bible. A similar colour scheme of muted browns and reds marks Chagall’s treatment of other episodes from the book, which were first published by Verve in 1960.

The vegetation in the background along with the unidentified animal in the foreground potentially allude to the security found in Moab compared with the famine left behind in Bethlehem. In the upper right corner, the hot red sun stands out prominently by contrast with the subdued tones of the composition. Conversely, the lack of any building in the background which might be their home may indicate that this is a wilderness location, and that they have already begun their difficult journey from Moab to Bethlehem (Ruth 1:6–7).

It is noteworthy that Chagall positions all three women centrally—merged in an emotional embrace—rather than simply focusing on Ruth and Naomi. This posture is reminiscent of the iconography of the Three Graces (a famous example being Antonio Canova’s 1814 sculpture in which they are likewise mutually entwined). The younger women surround Naomi, actively holding her, while Naomi’s arms are clasped in front of her body. Chagall does not differentiate between Ruth and Orpah, echoing the way that the biblical text initially treats the daughters-in-law as an indistinguishable pair. Both women are united in their desire to journey with Naomi, weeping and raising their voices (Ruth 1:10).

Although some early Jewish and Christian interpreters maligned Orpah’s choice to return to her family of origin, there is no judgement or shame accorded to her in the biblical text as she (unlike Ruth) obeys Naomi her elder (Koosed 2011: 35–36; Lau 2023: 97–98). Laura Donaldson notes that Cherokee women see in Orpah a hopeful figure who by returning to Moab chooses the house of her mother, positively embracing her traditions and ancestors (Donaldson 2006: 167). Similarly, Chagall in his five scenes from the book of Ruth, diverges from other artists by omitting Orpah’s departure and highlighting a moment of intimacy between women struggling with grief and loss (O’Kane 2010: 144).

 

References

Donaldson, Laura E. 2006. ‘The Sign of Orpah: Reading Ruth through Native Eyes’, in The Postcolonial Biblical Reader, ed. by R.S. Sugirtharajah (Malden: Blackwell Publishing), pp. 159–70

Koosed, Jennifer L. 2011. Gleaning Ruth: A Biblical Heroine and her Afterlives (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press)

Lau, Peter H. W. 2023. The Book of Ruth, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)

O’Kane, Martin. 2010. ‘The Iconography of the Book of Ruth’, Interpretation, 64.2: 130–45

See full exhibition for Ruth 1

Ruth 1

Revised Standard Version

1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2The name of the man was Elimʹelech and the name of his wife Naʹomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilʹion; they were Ephʹrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3But Elimʹelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years; 5and both Mahlon and Chilʹion died, so that the woman was bereft of her two sons and her husband.

6 Then she started with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7So she set out from the place where she was, with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8But Naʹomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9The Lord grant that you may find a home, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11But Naʹomi said, “Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me.” 14Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16But Ruth said, “Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; 17where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if even death parts me from you.” 18And when Naʹomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naʹomi?” 20She said to them, “Do not call me Naʹomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naʹomi, when the Lord has afflicted me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

22 So Naʹomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

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