The Angels’ Meal, Saint Roseline Chapel, Les Arcs-sur-Argens

In 1975, Chagall made the mosaic The Angels’ Meal,or The Miracle of Saint Roseline, a unique masterpiece in the eponymous chapel in Arcs-sur-Argens. Based on Marguerite Maeght’s initiative, the work was part of a groundbreaking decorative project that brought together artists from the Maeght Gallery and breathed new life into the chapel between 1968 and 1975. With The Wailing Wall, Knesset, Jerusalem [Le Mur des Lamentations, Knesset, Jérusalem] (1964 - 1966), The Prophet Elijah, or Elijah’s Chariot, Musée national Marc Chagall, Nice [Le Prophète Élie ou Le Char d'Élie, Musée national Marc Chagall, Nice] (1970 - 1973) and Moses Saved from the Water, Notre-Dame de la Nativité Cathedral, Vence [Moïse sauvé des eaux, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de la Nativité, Vence] (1979)¹, The Angels’ Meal is one of Chagall’s four religious mosaics, but it stands out because he drew his inspiration from the life of a Christian saint, not the Bible.

Born into a noble family in Les Arcs around 1270, Roseline de Villeneuve is a particularly revered figure in Provence. She is attributed with two major miracles that attest to her saintliness. The first, “the miracle of the roses”, tells about how, as a child, she sneaked food out the family castle to give to the poor. Caught by her father, she opened her apron and an armful of roses tumbled out. The second miracle, known as “the angels’ meal”, occurred during her novitiate in Prébayon. While preparing a meal for the Chartreuse community, she stopped to talk to God. When the sisters arrived and the meal was not ready, angels came down from heaven and set the table with bountiful dishes. These stories, rooted in the Christian tradition of Provence, illustrate the saint’s exemplary life, venerated for her humility, charity and devotion. In 1334, her body was exhumed and moved to the convent chapel. It was found miraculously intact, her eyes shining as if she were still alive. They were placed in a reliquary and her body was embalmed and deposited in a shrine. Veneration of Roseline only began to spread from the 17^th century onwards, first to the area around Les Arcs. It expanded considerably in Provence in the 19^th century thanks to the Church and the de Villeneuve family’s commitment, leading to Roseline’s canonization. The saint's relics draw crowds of pilgrims² from across the region.

Born in Cannes, Marguerite Maeght was deeply devoted to the Provencal saint. In her youth, she regularly made the pilgrimage to Saint Roseline’s chapel at the La Celle-Roubaud convent. Marguerite remained faithful to the saint until her death. Her funeral mass was even celebrated in the chapel at Les Arcs. After the long-awaited birth of her grandson Jules in 1968, Marguerite went to the chapel of her childhood, which by then was in a sad state of disrepair. She suggested to the parish priest of Les Arcs, Abbé Gamba, to have restoration work undertaken on the chapel, which houses a collection of religious items including ex-votos and an 18^th-century altarpiece under which the bones of the de Villeneuve family lie buried. The project got underway in 1969. Workers installed lighting, renovated the roof, refurbished the floors, restored the altarpieces and applied light-colored paint.

Marguerite wanted the project to be a benchmark in the postwar movement to revive sacred art, led by Fathers Marie-Alain Couturier and Régamey. She asked the artists closest to the Maeght Gallery to create works that would bring about a dialogue between ancient and modern art. Diego Giacometti designed the ambo, a lectern at the choir entrance, the leaves of the new niche of the reliquary housing Saint Roseline’s eyes in the side aisle and the Miracle of the Roses bas-relief, in a style inspired by ancient Egyptian reliefs. Artists Jean Bazaine and Raoul Ubac made the stained glass windows, whose harmonious lines and colors express an intimate relationship with the divine. The renovated chapel was dedicated on the saint's pilgrimage day, Sunday, August 2, 1970.

Chagall donated the Angels’ Meal mosaic, which was installed a few years later. The model was unveiled in January 1975. He collaborated with craftsman Michel Tharin after the success of his mosaic The Four Seasons, First National Bank Plaza, Chicago [Les Quatre Saisons, First National Bank Plaza, Chicago] (1971 - 1974), inaugurated in Chicago in 1974³. At the artist's request, the 18^th-century altarpiece was moved to accommodate the mosaic and provide the necessary distance for its contemplation. After the model was presented, Tharin began working on the monumental project on site in May 1975. In a May 14, 1975 letter to Chagall, the new parish priest of Les Arcs, Father Ventre, expressed his gratitude for the choice of the theme of the mosaic, the last stage in the decorative project begun by Marguerite Maeght. "It is my pleasure to confirm the news that you have certainly heard from Mrs. and Mr. Maeght: Mr. Tharin has been working on your mosaic since early May. The work that, thanks to your kindness, will become a new treasure in Saint Roseline’s chapel, so close to our hearts, is already taking shape. On behalf of myself and my parishioners, allow me to express all our gratitude and admiration. When Mr. and Mrs. Tharin showed me the model in January, I was amazed by its beauty and by the subject you had chosen: the angels’ meal! Saint Roseline's message is always about a table that welcomes everybody, especially the poorest.⁴”

For the model of the mosaic illustrating the saint's second miracle, “the angels’ meal”, Chagall took up the theme of hospitality, already found in his painting Abraham and the Three Angels. Both works were inspired by the Russian icon The Trinity⁵ by Andrey Rublev, dating from 1410-1427. Faithful to the icon’s spirit, it features a triangular layout of winged figures around a table. As in his 1970s lithographs, he gives great freedom to the black line, which structures the forms and delimits the work's edges with a geometric decorative frieze. The colors overflow the contours, creating an effect of fluidity and freedom. Pieces of floral-patterned fabric are glued onto and integrated into the impasto of colored paint, helping to arrange the masses of color in space. In the 1960s, Chagall adopted this collage technique in his sketches for monumental projects such as stained-glass windows and large-scale paintings. Left in reserve, the background is punctuated by white touches, which seem to indicate corrections.

In the mosaic, Chagall played with the architecture of the semicircular arch and designed a window that opens up like a theater stage. The floral-patterned curtain rises to reveal two majestic angels who have just set the table, transforming the moment into a theatrical tableau suspended in time. In the foreground, the food-laden table fills the mosaic’s entire lower part. Delicate blue and violet strokes highlight a basket of fruit, place settings, a carafe, dishes and a bouquet of flowers, adding shadow and nuance to the dark line. On the right, Saint Roseline is depicted with wings, apparently deep in thought. Subtly shaded in blue, her hands are joined in prayer, recalling her covenant with God. On the left, an angel appears in profile, punctuated by touches of green and orange. He points to the table with his right hand. In the upper part, another angel, highlighted in shades of pink, yellow and green, overlooks the scene and beckons us to join the table with a welcoming gesture. The angels’ triangular composition is strengthened by the complementary colors of their wings, blending touches of blue, green and pink. An evocation of the city of Avignon near the monastery of Saint-André-de-Ramières can be made out in the background. These architectural features recall the Provencal villages already seen in the Prophet Elijah mosaic and the Mediterranean landscape of the Orpheus mosaic⁶. Chagall gave the central scene exceptional depth, surrounding it by a bouquet of colorful flowers and foliage, symbols of vitality and spiritual elevation that evoke the first miracle of the roses. He harmoniously mixed shades of blue, red, green, pink and orange, some of them matching the patterns of the model's glued fabric pieces. At the top, a majestic sun recalls those in the Large Sun⁷, Orpheus and The Four Seasons, First National Bank Plaza, Chicago [Les Quatre Saisons, First National Bank Plaza, Chicago] (1971 - 1974). Black granite and grey marble tesserae mark the contours, which faithfully reproduce those of the model and stand out clearly against the light background. They result is a lively, vibrant composition playing with subtle reflections of light and the textures of the tesserae—over a ton of glass and stone. The matt marble ones in various shades of white and cream contrast sharply with the shiny, light-reflecting glass-paste tiles. In the chapel’s unique setting and in dialogue with the other works, the play of light turns the architectural space into a spiritual, sensory experience.

The Saint Roseline chapel mosaic in Les Arcs-sur-Argens was unveiled during a Provencal festival on Saturday, August 2, 1975. In addition to art dealers Marguerite and Aimé Maeght, many prominent artists and cultural figures were present, including Vava and Marc Chagall, Pilar and Joan Miró, Jean Bazaine, Aguy and Raoul Ubac, Xavière and Pierre Tal-Coat, Pili and Eduardo Chillida, Claude Pompidou, Jean-Louis Prat, Bernard Anthonioz (director of creation at the Ministry of Culture) and Yves Augeard, head architect of historic monuments in the Var. Also in attendance were Monseigneur Brand, bishop of Fréjus; Mr. Jauffret, mayor of Les Arcs; Mr. Robert and Mr. Lambertin, prefects of the Var and Alpes-Maritimes; and Mr. Gérard, sub-prefect of Draguignan. Today, Saint Roseline’s chapel in Les Arcs-sur-Argens is open to the public on a winegrowing estate that hosts contemporary art shows on a regular basis.