One of Chagall's early and best-known paintings, I and the Village (1911), clearly shows the themes of nature and home The soft, dreamlike images in the painting show simple times and traditions, The place in the painting must be Vitebsk, the small Russian farming village where Chagall was born into a large Jewish family. Chagall's paintings often show images of his village. The painting brings together bright colors and Jewish and Russian elements to show the relationships between people and nature, life and death. The main part of the painting shows a green man (probably Chagall himself) and an animal (a horse or a goat) looking at each other. A circle connects the two images. This could be an example of Chagall's belief in a strong connection between humans and animals. The painting also shows life, through the plant in the man's hands, and death, in the image of a farmer holding a cutter. In I and the Village, Chagall brings together fantasy and reality to show a love of home and the natural world.