“I went to the great universal book, the Bible. Since my childhood, it has filled me with visions about the fate of the world and inspired me in my work. In moments of doubt, its highly poetic grandeur and wisdom have comforted me like a second nature”
- Marc Chagall

‘La visite de l'ange à la campagne’ reflects Chagall’s interest in biblical imagery. In 1930 Ambroise Vollard commissioned Chagall to create a series of etchings depicting scenes from the Old Testament. Chagall then worked on this commission for over 25 years, continuing well after Vollard’s death in 1939. The final portfolio, which was printed in 1956, contained 105 prints. The series gave rise to many works apart from those within the suite, such as this gouache that he made in 1935.

Chagall drew inspiration for his religious works from the great Spanish and Dutch Gold Age painters before him such as Velazquez, El Greco, Ribera and Rembrandt. By studying these Masters, and mixing images from his own Jewish background with that of traditional Christian ones, Chagall defies traditional iconography and creates a highly unique image. In ‘La visite de l'ange à la campagne’ the angel may be seen to be routed in the Old or New Testament, while the goat holds a strong symbolic significance within Judaism as well as referencing Chagall’s childhood growing up in the rural town of Vitebsk. The work is typical of Chagall’s expressive and vibrant colour palette, full of dazzling blues and emerald greens.