In 1962 Marc Chagall created twelve stained glass windows for the synagogue of Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, one for each tribe of Israel. They were damaged during the Six-Day War, and the artist offered to restore them himself.
In 1959 Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem commissioned Marc Chagall to create twelve stained glass windows for the medical center's synagogue, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Chagall worked on them for two years, and the windows were formally installed in February 1962.
Chagall built each window around the biblical blessing the patriarch Jacob gave his sons, filling the glass with animals, plants and symbols tied to each tribe, rendered in his signature palette of blue, red and yellow.
In 1967, during the Six-Day War, the synagogue building came under shelling and several of the windows were damaged. On hearing the news, Chagall sent a telegram to Jerusalem: "Don't worry about the windows! Worry about Israel. I'll make you new windows." The damaged panes were later restored.
One section of the window dedicated to the tribe of Issachar Chagall left uncolored, and it remains that way today. The Foundation's collection holds an original serigraph print of the "Jerusalem Window," made in 1990.
