The artwork titled “Miriam, sister of Moses, dances with her friends to celebrate the deliverance of Israel (Exodus, XV,19-21)” was created by artist Marc Chagall around 1934 in Paris, France. This piece is an etching on paper, measuring 30 by 23.6 centimeters, and crafted in the realm of Naïve Art or Primitivism. It belongs to the religious painting genre and is part of a series of etchings depicting scenes from the Bible, produced between 1930 and 1939 and later between 1952 and 1956.
The artwork presents an energetic scene inspired by a biblical passage, featuring Miriam, the sister of Moses, at the center of the composition. She is depicted with her arms raised, holding what appear to be tambourines, as she leads a dance of celebration. Surrounding her are several other figures, likely representing her friends, who are also engaged in the act of dancing, each portrayed with distinct expressions and gestures. The figures are rendered with a sense of movement and spontaneity, which is characteristic of Chagall’s stylistic approach to storytelling through art. The use of line and shading in the etching technique captures the dynamic energy of the celebratory moment, while the details of the figures’ attire and the ambiguous setting contribute to the work’s narrative quality. While the expressionistic nature of the figures is aligned with Chagall’s primitivist influences, the artwork remains anchored in its religious context, capturing a moment of joyous exuberance following a divine intervention in biblical history.
