Home
   Under Reconstruction!
Art Alone

Img. ID: 360035

© Hungarian Academy of Sciences Library (MTAK), Photographer: Unknown, -

The third and the fourth columns of text (sheet no. 1) are inscribed within a printed border. Below them, the illustrations are depicted:

Frame 3: On the left, a group of people is depicted; they are Esther and other women, servants (?), and guards. Possibly more women are brought to the palace in a carriage drawn by two horses that are shown in the central part of the panel (Es. 2:8).

Frame 4: The scene is difficult for an unambiguous interpretation. On the right, the group of people is shown; they can be maidens that were given to Esther (Es. 2:9) or one of the groups of women who were brought to the king's palace (e.g. Es. 2:19). Similarly, it is difficult to interpret if in the carriage (depicted on the left) Esther is coming or other maidens are brought to the palace.  

Name/Title
MTAK Griselini-Related Esther Scroll | Unknown
Object Detail
cols. 3 and 4
Settings
Unknown
Date
Mid-18th century
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Unknown (Unknown)
Origin
Italy | Veneto | Venice
| (?)
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Pseudo-Griselini|
{"213":"The family of Italian Esther scrolls from around the mid-18th century designed by an anonymous engraver whose decoration imitates the scheme designed by Francesco Griselini (see Griselini scrolls). They are produced in the mixed technique in which decorative border is printed, while the Hebrew text of the Book of Esther is penned by a scribe; some exemplars are also hand-painted. The general composition is the same as in Griselini scrolls and only minor details such as dogs present in the narrative scenes and the checkered floor can be found in them. The scrolls of this family are formed of five sheets with four text panels each."}
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Material / Technique
Ink on parchment (printed border, 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: 262 x ca.2200 mm.
An average letter: 2 mm (height).
The spaces between the lines of the text are equal to the letters' height.

The case: ca. 530 mm.
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition

The manuscript is in good condition, although the last sheet is torn in its lower part and the last text panel is partly preserved. 

The sheets are crumpled in some places.

The text and decorations are well preserved.

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

Codicology

The scroll is formed of 5 sheets containing 19 columns of the text with 23 lines, except for col. 16 with 11 lines divided into two parts. The last text panel is blank.

Every sheet contains 4 columns of text.

The text is inscribed in the Hebrew square Italian script with tagin, in black ink on the flesh side of the parchment membranes.

The letter ח (Es. 1:6) is highlighted by its form - it contains two elements joined with a roof and it is slightly larger than an average letter in the scroll. The letter ת (Es. 9:29) is slightly larger. Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 16.

The ruling is made with a hardpoint, but the lines are barely visible.  

The membranes in the scroll are stitched.

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

The illustrations show numerous common features with the scrolls representing Klagsbald and Gaster II types (see in the Index) but they are more detailed; especially more figures are included in them.

The last lunette is blank.

The columns between the text panels are decorated with different ornaments.

The plants in the vases represent possibly carnations and tulips, and orange and lemon trees.

Remarks
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

The manuscript belonged to the collection of David Kaufmann (1852-1899); for information about the collection see http://kaufmann.mtak.hu/index-en.html (accessed on 11.01.2021).

Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography

The scroll is described in:

Max (Miksa) Weisz, Katalog der hebräischen Handschriften und Bücher in der Bibliothek des Professors D. Kaufmann, Frankfurt am Main 1906, no. 15, p. 5.

The KTIV website (https://web.nli.org.il).

Scrolls sharing the same pattern are discussed for example in:

Victor Klagsbald, Catalogue raisonné de la collection juive du Musée de Cluny, Paris 1981, p. 66-67, object 74.

Mendel Metzger, The Earliest Engraved Italian Megilloth, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 1966, 48/2, 381–432, esp. 416-432 (here the scrolls are called "post-Griselini").

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, 1:135-138.

Short Name
Full Name
Volume
Page
Type
Documenter
Dagmara Budzioch | 2021
Author of description
Dagmara Budzioch | 2021
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
|
Donor
|
Negative/Photo. No.
M003594