The artwork titled “The sacrifice offered by Elijah is consumed by the fire from the Lord (I Kings XVIII, 36-38)” is a religious painting created by Marc Chagall around 1956 in France. This etching on paper forms part of Chagall’s “Etchings for the Bible” series, produced intermittently from 1930-1939 and then continued from 1952-1956. Measuring 33.1 x 25.5 cm, it adheres to the Naïve Art (Primitivism) movement, foregrounding religious themes in a stylistically simplified manner.
In the artwork, a sense of divine intervention is palpable as the figure of Elijah is rendered with gestural expressiveness and fervent body language, indicative of active communion with the divine. He is positioned to the left, pointing upwards, which could be interpreted as a reference to his appeal to a higher power. The central visual element is the powerful, almost ethereal depiction of fire descending from above to consume the sacrifice laid out before Elijah. The fire is represented with vigorous, swirling etch lines that convey both its ferocity and its divine origin. The sacrificial animals appear at the bottom center of the composition, portrayed with a rough immediacy that reflects the spontaneous nature of the etching technique. The background and surrounding space are treated with textured shadings and nuanced graduations of tone, creating an atmospheric effect that emphasizes the miraculous nature of the event. The presence of additional figures or observers is subtly suggested at the edge of the composition, their form and emotion discernible yet subordinate to the central act of divine intervention.
