Song of Songs III
1960
Oil on canvas
149 x 210 cm
Anchored around three large circles, obviously reminiscent of a woman’s breasts and stomach, the composition is also split in two by a horizon that distinguishes two separate halves. Chagall seems to have wanted to tell his own story in this painting: the depiction of Jerusalem in the middle is twofold: above, the city looks like Saint-Paul-de-Vence, with its ramparts. Below, upside-down, is Vitebsk, identifiable by the sanctuary with the green roof. The whole bottom half of the painting, upside-down, thus points to the artist’s youth: the travelling Jew, bag slung over his shoulder, speaks of his exiles, while the entwined couple along the bottom is him and Bella, buried by this time in the ground. The top half would therefore seem to be a tribute to his new life in the south of France, and the bride and groom under the canopy hint at his second marriage to Vava, to whom he devoted the cycle.