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Img. ID: 14898

© Center for Jewish Art, Photographer: Radovan, Zev, 1994
Name/Title
JMP Esther Scroll with Portrait Medallions | Unknown
Object Detail
Settings
Unknown
Date
Early 18th century
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Unknown (Unknown)
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Scrolls with portrait medallions|
{"215":"The family of Dutch Esther scrolls from the early 18th century designed by an anonymous engraver whose decorative scheme features decorative medallions surrounded by acanthus containing busts of the Esther story protagonists, except for the last that is filled with a printed word \u05d1\u05e8\u05d5\u05da barukh (“blessed”). The medallions are placed in upper margins, above text panels. The text columns are separated by pillars formed of a variety of motifs such as trees, flowers, acanthus leaves, heads of angels, and architectural elements. Lower margins are filled with the figurative scenes that chronicle the Purim story or allude to midrashim and other sources. They are separated by the octagons (placed beneath the decorative pillars) filled with different land- and seascapes. At the end of the scroll there are five full figures of the Esther story protagonists."}
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Material / Technique
Ink on parchment (printed decoration, handwritten text)
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
The scroll: 198x1710 mm.
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition

The opening decoration of the scroll is partly preserved; it lacks its upper and lower registers.

Some minor damages in the edges of the first sheet can be seen.

The first membrane is darker than all remaining membranes in the scroll.

In general, the text is well preserved, although the sheets are crumpled; the text in the final panel is preserved in the worst condition.

Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents

The Book of Esther in Hebrew with initial and final benedictions, and a liturgical poem אשר הניא "Asher Heni"

Codicology

The scroll is formed of 4 sheets containing 16 columns of text and two additional benediction panels at the beginning and the end of the scroll. Each column includes 26-27 lines of text. The text in col. 14 is printed; it contains 11 lines divided into two half-columns.

Every sheet comprises 4 columns of text.

The text is inscribed in the Hebrew square script in brown ink on the flesh side of parchment membranes.

The scroll opens with an enlarged and bolded initial word.

The letter ח (Es. 1:6) is highlighted by its size (it is enlarged and bolded), form (it is composed of two elements joined with a roof), and decoration (it is surrounded by hand-drawn tendrils). The letter ת (Es. 9:29) is enlarged and bolded. Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 14, however, this part of the scroll is printed and not penned by a scribe.

The sheets in the scroll are stitched together.

The benedictions: The initial benedictions are inscribed in the square letters in the central panel of the opening decoration. All three words ברוך are decorated with a filigree ornament.

The final blessing starts with a printed word ברוך placed in the upper margin and is copied in a square script. In the column below it, the Purim poem is copied in a square script. The letters opening the subsequent verses are enlarged and bolded.

Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon

None

Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Summary and Remarks
Remarks
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

The former number of the manuscript is Ms 312.

Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography

The scroll is mentioned in:

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], Praha 2006, 38.

Jiřina Šedinová, From the Mss. Collections of the State Jewish Museum in Prague. The Scrolls of Esther, "Judaica Bohemiae" 1979, nr 15/2, 80-83.

http://collections.jewishmuseum.cz/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/221258 (accessed on 31.10.2020).

Manuscripts sharing the same pattern are described in:

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.

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, 1:176-188.

Short Name
Full Name
Volume
Page
Type
Documenter
Dagmara Budzioch | 2020
Author of description
Dagmara Budzioch | 2020
Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconstruction
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Section Head
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Language Editor
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Donor
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Negative/Photo. No.