Rosensaft states of this work, "Of the ten plagues cast over Egypt, Chagall omits to illustrate the initial eight and chooses to begin with the ninth plague, darkness. Moses' upraised rod causes darkness to descend over the earth and sky. Amidst the heavily etched and inked sky, clouded and textured in the painterly manner of El Greco, God's presence is illuminated by the bright white letters of His name and by an angel pointing to the chaos and devastation below. Chagall's supreme skills as a colorist are well represented in his treatment of the darkness as a palpable substance in this etching. Chagall curiously depicts a horned Moses in this etching in the style of medieval renderings of the patriarch based on Saint Jerome's mistranslation of the Hebrew word for ray" (Rosensaft, pg. 136).

Created in 1958, this engraving with watercolor is the 31st plate in the series of 105 images that Chagall created for his Bible series. Numbered from the edition of 100 in pencil in the lower left margin, this work bears Marc Chagall's (Vitebsk, 1887 - Saint-Paul, 1985) hand written monogram in pencil in the lower right margin. Tériade, Paris, published this folio, and Raymond Haasen, Paris, did the printing for the series.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

This work is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices accompanying the final sale of the work).
1. Cramer, Patrick. Marc Chagall, The Illustrated Books: Catalogue Raisonné. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 30 on pp. 110-117.
2. Rosensaft, Jean Bloch. Chagall and the Bible. New York: Universe Books, 1987. Listed and illustrated as plate 31.
3. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:

Framed to archival museum grade conservation standards, this piece is presented in a complementary moulding with silk-wrapped mats and optical-grade Plexiglas.