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Over Vitebsk is in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Description
Over Vitebsk (1914) is an oil painting by Marc Chagall and is one of his most famous pieces. Chagall’s subject is entrenched in Judao-Slavic folk-traditions with its Hasidim rabbi and the depiction of the local Saint Ilytch church in Vitebsk, across from which Chagall was living. Despite this though there is a luster in his application of paint and a typical early-Cubist flattening of the canvas that demonstrates the scope of his influences. In this painting he has abandoned much of the Fauves’ intensity and vibrancy of colour that is so recognizable in his more fantastical paintings. It has been replaced instead with a more monochrome palette that is still luminous.

The figure in the background has many interpretations. Most scholars identify him as the archetypal figure of the Wandering Jew. This archetype itself has many varying stories, characters, and event surrounding it. It has also been suggested that he is Elijah, mainly due to Chagall's own description of Elijah which is very much like the figure in his painting, "But where is Elijah and his white chariot? Is he still lingering in the courtyard to enter the house in the guise of a sickly old man, a stooped beggar, with a sack on his back and a cane in his hand?" Chagall is perhaps using him as a metaphor for the human condition as it was in the midst of war. His absurd size, closed eyes, and the shaft of light illuminating him, cutting through the cold grey sky ahead all lend a dream-like quality to the very tangible setting. Russian folk paintings often lacks proper scale and Chagall may have been borrowing from this artistic style. He may also have been looking to Russian-Byzantine artistic traditions where size was determined by the figure’s degree of importance. The mysteriousness of this figure becomes part of the haunting nature of the piece.

Historical information
Before the execution of this painting Chagall had been studying abroad in Paris. He was there for four-years and was greatly influenced by the Cubist, Symbolist, and Expressionist movements. After his solo exhibit at Der Strum in Berlin, 1914, which opened to great acclaim, he returned to his native Russia intending only to visit. With the outbreak of World War I, Chagall was forced to remain until the war was over. Being back in his hometown, Vitebsk, Chagall was struck by its mundanity in comparison with the bustling city of Paris. However, he was able to use the influences and exposure he has gained in France to capture the essence of this provincial town in a new found artistic style. Chagall did nine renderings of the same subject with slight variations on the architectural details. He did only two fully completed oil paintings, one belongs to the AGO and the other, done in a heavier cubist style, is in the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Acquisition
This work was a gift of Gift of Sam and Ayala Zacks in 1970. it was acquired by the Zacks in 1951 in Lucerne.