Stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall, the context

Le Saillant chapel is the only chapel in France and one of the only four chapels in the world to have been entirely decorated with stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall.

And yet, the famous painter was often solicited to create stained-glass windows, because of his bright palette of colours, sublimed by light and because of the recurring themes in his works : the Bible and the Old Testament, which are ideal subjects for decorating religious edifices. In Le Saillant, his representations have more of a profane character, evoking rural life, but they can also be interpreted under a mystical angle.

Guy de Lasteyrie du Saillant, a descendant of the chapel’s builders, was so fond of Chagall’s works that he ordered this 6 panel masterpiece. The panels were created between1978 and 1982 by stained-glass artists Charles Marq and Brigitte Simon in Reims. They interpreted models that Chagall had created in perfect harmony with this sober, modest chapel. Chagall himself carried out the finishing touches, namely the numerous grisaille effects.