Daphnis and Chloe (Pegasus Library)

Inspired by a journey through Greece, Marc Chagall, one of the 20th century's most popular painters, created a series of lithographs that brought new life to this ancient Greek love story - the first pastoral romance.

The Russian Jew, Marc Chagall, like many other twentieth-century artists, composers, and writers, found inspiration in a bucolic love-story from ancient Greece called "Daphnis and Chloe". Touching yet humorous, naive and yet at the same time highly sophisticated, "Daphnis and Chloe" is the story of a shepard boy and girl who fall desperately in love and find themselves facing enormous obstacles to their happiness. Goethe said of the story: "One would do well to read it every year, to be instructed by it again and again, and to receive anew the impression of its great beauty." Chagall's lus lithographs - reproduced here in full color - encapuslate the lyricism and sensual frankness of this tale. In creating his prints the artist was inspired by first-hand impressions of Greece and by memories of folktales from his homeland. Chagall's vibrant splashes of color, fluid line work, and simple yet eloquent faces and figures capture both the liveliness and poignancy of a timeless pastoral text.