Chagall, Marc, Death of Dorcon, 1961

“La Mort de Dorcon” is a lithograph by Marc Chagall to illustrate the Greek Longus novel Daphnis and Chloé. In a bucolic setting, the shepherds Daphnis and Chloe gradually fall in love.

This brightly colored work depicts the tragic end of the herdsman Dorcon. We can discern several episodes in the story where the man is present: the moment when he dies to save his herd of cattle, and when, in his final moments, he gives Chloé his flute as a gift. Finally, as the young lovers’ love survives these threatening events, they are reunited in the glowing twilight.