Marc Chagall
Abraham and the Three Angels, c.1960-66
Musée National Marc Chagall, Nice, France

The Hospitality of Abraham, the icon by the great Russian iconographer Rublev (pictured below), is very well known. This painting of the same scene by Marc Chagall is less so. In fact, it came as a surprise to me. And the two versions of the encounter in the book of Genesis are very different. The story itself is an intriguing one: ‘The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby.’…

Art in focus is curated by Meryl Doney

Image: ©Hemis / Alamy Stock Photo

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This is an extract from an article published in the May 2024 edition of Reform

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