• Scrolls 9 (VIII.2.A)




    Categories

    Esther Scroll
    Manuscript

    Esther Scroll


    Manuscript ID:
    Scrolls 9 (VIII.2(A)

    Place:
    Italy, Venice (?)

    Date:
    Second half of the 17th century

    Description:
    Printed and hand-painted border Ink and gouache on parchment, 3 membranes, 19 text columns, 22 lines per column (23 lines in the last column) 176 × 1575 mm (6.9 × 62.0 in.) Turned wooden roller, 415 mm (16.3 in.)


    This lavishly decorated and illustrated megillah was embellished with a printed and hand-colored border and belongs to a group of scrolls that the scholar Mendel Metzger has characterized as Gaster I type (see also HUC scrolls number: 7, 8, 10, 11).  The engraving was printed on parchment in orange ink and colored by hand. The first sheet of the scroll decoratively trimmed. The ornamentation at the opening consists of foliage, flowers, animals and the images of the four animals mentioned in the tractate Pirkei Avot 5:23 (a deer, a leopard, an eagle and a lion). The cartouche at center contains several letters of the Latin alphabet – possibly: I(?) M Jano and is supported by two rampant lions facing each other. The upper and lower margins contain illustrations enclosed in polylobed frames, alternating with interlaced patterns. The text panels are separated by floral decoration with acanthus leaves. The scroll ends with decorative foliage, flowers and a blank cartouche. The dating of this group of Esther scrolls is based on two examples which contain the dates: 1666 (2002.01.0679, Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, Paris) and 1673 (BAR MS 405 Oriental, Biblioteca Academiei Române, Bucharest).


    Manuscript Link:
    https://huc.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1015678457


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