Cartouche 9 (upper margin): On the right, Ahasuerus sits on the throne with a canopy and extends his scepter to the crowned Esther who kneels before him and touches the tip of it. Two men stand behind the throne and Esther is accompanied by two maid-servants (Es. 5:2-3). On the left, the first banquet given by Esther is depicted. Esther, Ahasuerus, and Haman sit at a round, laid table set in palace gardens. A man serving the dishes is just approaching the table (Es. 5:5).
Cartouche 10 (lower margin): On the right, Haman wearing a turban stands and talks to two women; probably one of them is Zeresh, Haman's wife, at the moment when she is suggesting him to build the gallows for Mordecai (Es. 5:14). In the central part of the cartouche stands the gallows prepared by Haman for Mordecai (Es. 5:14). On the left, Ahasuerus reclines on a bed and two men stand before him; one of them reads from an open book to the king (Es. 6:1).
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Esther's first banquet (Es. 5:5-8)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Ahasuerus listening to the Book of Records (Es. 6:1-3)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Esther touching the scepter (Es. 5:2)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Haman talks to his wife, Zeresh, and friends (Es. 5:14)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Gallows built for Mordecai (Es. 5:14)
O | Ornamentation: | Foliate and floral ornaments | Floral motif
O | Ornamentation: | Endless knot
|
The scroll is formed of 3 membranes on which the Book of Esther is inscribed in 19 text columns (in 10 panels; 9 of them are double and the last one is single) with 22 lines each, except for the col. 16 with 11 lines divided into two parts.
The style of the script on sheets nos 2 and 3 is different than on the first sheet; the shade of ink is darker, the letters are smaller and the handwriting is denser even if the particular strokes are thinner. However, it still represents an Italian type of Hebrew square script. Possibly two different instruments were used for copying the text in the scroll.
The traditional enlarged and smaller letters are included only in the section of the IX chapter listing the names of Haman's sons (col. 16).
The ruling is visible, although not everywhere equally. In some places also the pricking can be seen.
The text is copied and the border is printed on the flesh side of the parchment sheets that are stitched together.
The name "Gaster I" was introduced by Mendel Metzger in an article entitled "The Earliest Engraved Italian Megilloth" published in the "Bulletin of the John Rylands Library" (48:2 (1966), 381‒432, esp. 390). The type was named after Moses Gaster (1856–1939), the rabbi, scholar, and manuscript collector of whose collections a scroll adorned with this pattern formed a part (at present this is the scroll Gaster Hebrew MS 710 stored in the John Rylands Library in Manchester). At least 25 manuscripts representing this type are still extant and are preserved in private and institutional collections. For descriptions of other scrolls representing the same pattern see ID nos: 61, 1098, 1441, 21702, and 34125.
Two paper stickers containing the Library's inscription: "Mss Regia Biblioteca Casanatense Roma" and the number "Mss. 4851" are pasted on the opening section of the scroll, on its recto and verso side. Above the sticker, on the recto side, handwritten date or number 1743 is visible.
On the upper part of the verso side of the first sheet, there is an inscription: "FFFIV* CAPSULA No 5".
In the ornamentation some traces of gold are visible.
The background of the upper and lower margins is painted in a few different hues of blue color; the paint on the lower margin of the third membrane is barely visible, whereas the shade on the first membrane is saturated.
The membranes represent different types of parchment.
This image belongs to the ''Ursula and Kurt Schubert Archive'' in the Center for Jewish Art.
The scroll is described in:
Valeria Antonioli Martelli, Luisa Mortara Ottolenghi, Manoscritti biblici ebraici decorati provenienti da biblioteche italiane pubbliche e private: catalogo della mostra ordinata presso la Biblioteca Trivulziana: catalogo della mostra ordinata presso la Biblioteca Trivulziana, Castello Sforzesco, Milano, 2/28 marzo 1966 (Milano: Adei-Wiso) 1966, 62-63, object 17 + plate no. 12. (It lists an additional bibliography discussing the manuscript.
Ernest Namenyi, "The Illumination of Hebrew Manuscripts after the Invention of Printing," in Cecil Roth (ed.), Jewish Art, an Illustrated History (London, 1961), col. 433.
Selected bibliography concerning other scrolls decorated with the same border:
Mendel Metzger, The Earliest Engraved Italian Megilloth, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 1966, 48/2, 381–432.
Cornelia Bodea, Treasures of Jewish Art. The 1673 Illuminated Scroll of Esther Offered to a Romanian Hierarch, Iaşi–Oxford–Palm Beach–Portland 2002.
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, 240-241.
Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, eds. Emile Schrijver, Falk Wiesemann, Evelyn M. Cohen, Sharon Liberman Mintz, Menahem Schmeltzer, Zurich 2011, 262-263.
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, 1:99-119, 2:64-69.
Dagmara Budzioch, "An Illustrated Scroll of Esther from the Collection of the Jewish Historical Institute as an Example of the Gaster I Megilloth," Kwartalnik Historii Żydów 2013, no. 3 (247), 533–547.