The Lamentation of Jeremiah is an illustration of the beginning of the third lamentation (Lamentations 3:1-66). As in several psalms, the complaint of an individual person expands (vv. 40-47) and translates into a collective lament. The verses mentioned here are only the beginning of a long and poignant groaning and moaning. Chagall put them in the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah. He accuses Yahweh to have broken his bones and wasted his flesh: "He has forced me to dwell in darkness with the dead of long ago." However, as in most lamentations, the tenor is ambivalent mixing hope and despair. Yahweh's favors are not all past. It pays to wait in silence for him to speak words of reconciliation.
Considered "an extraordinary example of Chagall's gift as printmaker" (Rosensaft), plate #103 was completed only in 1951. It is one of the most elaborate of Chagall's etchings. Limiting the illustration to Jeremiah ' s face and hand, the artist focused his genius on the intensity of the prophet's emotion. The depth of Jeremiah's suffering is expressed by the closed lids of his eyes (darkness), the silent cry of his open mouth (anger and revolt), and by the clumsy hand wishing away tears of helplessness and hurt. Prayer shawl, forehead, the ringlets of hair and beard are heavily worked and densely textured. The overall image is that of the archetypal Jewish prophet lamenting the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity of the chosen people.
Related scripture reading: Lamentations 3:1-9
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