Marc Chagall, David sauvé par Mical (David Saved by Micol), Nude, 1960, Original Lithograph

Marc Chagall

David sauvé par Mical (David saved by Micol)
from "Drawings for the Bible"

colour lithograph on paper
publisher: Verve, Paris
year: 1960
size: 355 x 264 mm

On the back: another black and white original Lithograph by Marc Chagall, mandatory in this edition.

Very Good Condition: complete image (no crop, no trim), wonderful colours, a hardly perceivable bump in the corner (see image)

with Gallery Certificate

Catalogue Raisonné:
Meret Meyer and Patrick Cramer, "Marc Chagall, Les Livres Illustrés", ref. # 42
Charles Sorlier and Fernand Mourlot, Chagall Lithographe, vol. II, ref. # 250
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CHAGALL AND THE BIBLE

Marc Chagall’s Drawings for the Bible, published in 1960 as a special double issue of the legendary art magazine Verve, represents one of the most profound encounters between modern art and sacred text. While Chagall had been obsessed with biblical themes since his 1931 trip to Palestine, this specific suite allowed him to explore the narrative with a newfound technical mastery of colour lithography.

Working closely with the master printer Fernand Mourlot, Chagall created 24 vibrant color lithographs for this series. These works do not merely illustrate the Old Testament; they reimagine it through a dreamlike, Jewish-Eastern European lens. Chagall uses radiant blues, fiery reds, and golden yellows to transcend literal interpretation. The figures often float, defying gravity to suggest a spiritual reality that exists alongside the physical one.

For Chagall, the Bible was the "greatest source of poetry of all time." Through these lithographs, he sought to make the ancient prophets and patriarchs feel human and immediate. Today, this collection is celebrated not just as a religious milestone, but as a pinnacle of 20th-century printmaking, showcasing how Chagall could turn stone and ink into pure emotion.
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ABOUT THIS VERY ARTWORK

In Marc Chagall’s David Saved by Michal (Micol), the artist captures a moment of breathless suspense from the First Book of Samuel. This colour lithograph, a vital part of his 1960 Bible series, depicts the courageous act of Michal, King Saul’s daughter, as she helps her husband David escape through a window to elude her father’s assassins.

The composition is steeped in a cool, silvery nocturnal light, dominated by muted greys, soft blues, and chalky whites. Unlike the fiery crimsons seen in other works from this series, the palette here evokes the silence and secrecy of a midnight flight. David is shown mid-descent, his body silhouetted against the pale stone of the house, while Michal leans out from the window above, her hands outstretched in a gesture of both assistance and farewell. A crescent moon hangs in the corner of a dark sky, casting a watchful glow over the scene. The grainy texture and fluid, sketchy linework heighten the sense of urgency and movement. Through this poetic lens, Chagall transforms a narrow escape into a dreamlike vision of devotion, where the shadows of the night act as a protective shroud for the future king.