Obj. ID: 12079
Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts Esther Scroll with Landscapes I from an Unknown Collection (1), Amsterdam, early 18th century
The scroll represents the type called "scrolls with landscapes I" (see "Additional Remarks") due to their decorative scheme which features four different landscapes framed in cartouches that fill upper margins and repeat on every sheet in the same order:
1. On the left, two men with a dog standing at the gate are shown against a landscape of mountains and trees that are visible in the background.
2. On the right, two wanderers going towards a hill with buildings. On the left, a man on horseback riding towards a bridge over a river. In the background, mountains, and trees are visible.
3. A garden with a fountain and a palace in the background.
4. On the right, a man sitting under a tree and, in the background, mountains, trees, and buildings are visible.
It is difficult to show a direct reference between the landscapes and the narrative of the Book of Esther, although such a connection cannot be excluded either (e.g. two men in the second landscape can be the king's messengers and a man sitting under the tree in the fourth landscape can be Mordecai).
The scrolls with landscapes are lavishly decorated megillot produced in a mixed technique in which decorative border is printed as a copper engraving (and in some exemplars, colored by hand), whereas the Hebrew text of the Book of Esther is penned by a scribe. The scrolls decorated with this pattern begin with a panel composed of several figurative scenes from the Book of Esther narrative. The text columns are interspaced by herms decorated with reliefs, elaborate acanthus leaves and garlands above which are either decorative capitals or putti holding baskets with flowers on their heads. Lower margins are filled with the figurative scenes that chronicle the Purim story, allude to midrashim or other sources; they are interspersed by vases with plants. This type of megillot is known in two variants marked "I" and "II" (see "Additional Remarks"). Similar narrative scenes are included in the scrolls with "portrait medallions" (see their descriptions in the Index); some of them are their mirror image.
The scroll is mounted on a wooden roller.
4 image(s)
sub-set tree:
L | Landscape
C | Columns
A | Acanthus Leaf
G | Garland
P | Putto (Putti in Plural)
B | Basket | Basket with flowers
V | Vase
H | Herm(a)
O | Ornamentation: | Main text framed
|
The Book of Esther in Hebrew and the benedictions recited before the Megillah reading
The text is written in 17 columns. Additionally, initial benedictions are written within the opening decoration.
None
A central part of the opening decoration is removed and this place was supplemented with a small piece of parchment or paper with a different shade on which the benedictions recited before the reading of the Megillah are inscribed.
There are two variants of the scrolls decorated with this pattern that in the Index are marked "I" and "II". In some exemplars, just below the decorative herms, the pedestals with angel's heads and bases were added, therefore, the text panels in these scrolls are higher; this type is marked with "II". Whereas, the rest of the manuscripts containing no pedestals with angel's heads and bases are marked with "I". The latter are more numerous.
The blue seams visible on the edges of the first membrane of the scroll suggest that a piece of fabric was sewn underneath as it was customary in Dutch Jewish communities.
A part of the border on the third membrane is printed in a light hue of ink and is less visible than the rest of the pattern.
The earliest scroll sharing similar engraved pattern is dated to 1701; this is the megillah BCM 25 from the Braginsky Collection in Zurich (see http://braginskycollection.com/esther-scrolls/; accessed on 22.04.2020).
The current location of the scroll is unknown; previously it belonged to the Gross Family Collection (081.012.008).
Other scrolls sharing the same or similar pattern are discussed for example in:
Jiřina Šedinová, From the Mss. Collections of the State Jewish Museum in Prague. The Scrolls of Esther, „Judaica Bohemiae” 1979, nr 15/2, 79-80.
Olga Sixtova, O svitku / Form of the Scroll [katalog k výstavě konané v Galerii Roberta Guttmanna Židovského muzea v Praze od 22. června do 26. července 2006], Prague 2006, 37.
A Journey through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books, eds. Evelyn M. Cohen, Emile Schrijver, Sharon Liberman Mintz, Amsterdam 2009, 234-237.
Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, eds. Emile Schrijver, Falk Wiesemann, Evelyn M. Cohen, Sharon Liberman Mintz, Menahem Schmeltzer, Zurich 2011, 282-283.
Victor Klagsbald, Catalogue raisonné de la collection juive du Musée de Cluny, Paris 1981, 63-64, object 72.
Dagmara Budzioch, The Decorated Esther Scrolls from the Museum of the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw and the Tradition of Megillot Esther Decoration in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries – An Outline [Polish: Dekorowane zwoje Estery z Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego w Warszawie na tle tradycji dekorowania megilot Ester w XVII i XVIII wieku. Zarys problematyki], Warsaw 2019, 1:163-176, 2:41-49.