This colorful composition combines a number of important motifs from Chagall’s rich imagery, including the floating lovers, the bountiful vase of flowers, a rooster and the moon.  Jacob’s Ladder illustrates the important themes in Chagall’s oeuvre, “Throughout his life certain themes recur in the work of Chagall: the circus, lovers and peasants take their place beside more somber scenes (…) For the themes in Chagall’s art are timeless, not confined to a single epoch of history, but reminding man of the continuity of life for generation after generation, since the earliest days of recorded time” (S. Compton, Chagall, The Royal Academy of Arts, London (exhibitioꦫn catalo💟gue), 1985, p. 14).

Love and marriage are also a recurring theme in Chagall’s work and in his life.  His own love story began in 1909, when he met Bella Rosenfeld, the daughter of a wealthy Vitebsk merchant.  It was love at first sight and she would serve as his muse for years to follow.  As Meyer describes, “Always present—watching, advising, refining—she supplied echo and answers to artistic questions, formed contacts, removed obstacles. She was and still is the archetype of the loved one, the bride who leans toward her young groom in so many pictures, the tender girl who dreams in her lover’s arms” (Franz Meyer, Marc Chagall, Life and Work, New York, 1963, pp. 465-466).

The deep blue, emerald green and red colors add to the dream-like quality of this picture and divide the composition into four quadrants, joined together by the rooster, perched on the ladder.  The angel at upper left is gazing at the viewer while the young couple is absorbed in their own world.  The ladder is reminiscent of Chagall’s use of the Bible as a source of inspiration.  His second journey to Israel in 1951 inspired him to depict Biblical and religious subjects.  Writing about this theme, the artist said “I went back to the great universal book, The Bible. Since my childhood, it has filled me with visions about the world and inspired me in my work. In moments of doubt, its highly poetic grandeur and wisdom have comforted me. For me it is like a second nature. I see the events of life and works of art through the window of The Bible” (Chagall, ‘Musée du Message Biblique’, in Chagall by Chagall, New York, 1979, p. 189).