Song of songs key ring - Marc Chagall

This key ring features a detail from Marc Chagall's The Song of Songs IV (1958).

Marc Chagall (1887-1985)
The Song of Songs IV (detail), 1958
Oil on canvas, 144.5 cm x 210.5cm
Donation Marc and Valentina Chagall, 1966
Nice, musée national Marc Chagall
© Adage, Paris 2024 - Chagall ®
© Photo GrandPalaisRmn...

This key ring features a detail from Marc Chagall's The Song of Songs IV (1958).

Marc Chagall (1887-1985)
The Song of Songs IV (detail), 1958
Oil on canvas, 144.5 cm x 210.5cm
Donation Marc and Valentina Chagall, 1966
Nice, musée national Marc Chagall
© Adage, Paris 2024 - Chagall ®
© Photo GrandPalaisRmn (musée Marc Chagall) / A. Didierjean
© GrandPalaisRmnCréations, Paris 2024

Taken from one of the sets for the Aleko ballet, the composition shows David and Bathsheba embracing on the back of a winged horse flying over the city of Jerusalem. The colour of David's face could illustrate the Yiddish saying 'to be green with emotion'.
The horse plays a central role in the composition and can have several meanings: it embodies the strength of human love, capable of rising to the divine, but also the power of desire and carnal love. Finally, it is Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology, the symbol of poetry.
The comet effect produced by the treatment of the train of the wedding dress contributes to the dynamism of the composition.