Obj. ID: 23763
Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts JHM Esther Scroll with Landscapes I, 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.
To the right edge of the first membrane, a short piece of parchment with a pull bar of wood is glued. The scroll is stored in a wooden case.
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 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 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).
Similar narrative scenes are included in the scrolls with "portrait medallions" (see in the Index); some of them are their mirror image.
sub-set tree:
C | Columns
L | Landscape
P | Putto (Putti in Plural)
A | Acanthus Leaf
G | Garland
B | Basket | Basket with flowers
V | Vase | Vase with flowers
H | Herm(a)
O | Ornamentation: | Main text framed
|
An average letter in the scroll is 2 mm high.
The case: 330 mm (height), 55 mm (diameter).
The lower margins are not straight.
The opening decoration is crumpled.
The sheets are sewn together in a not aesthetic manner.
Book of Esther in Hebrew with the initial benedictions recited before the Megillah reading
The scroll is formed of 4 sheets containing a total of 16 columns of the text with 22 lines per each, except for col. 14 which includes 11 lines divided into two half-columns. Additionally, initial benedictions are written within the opening decoration.
Every sheet contains 4 columns of text.
The text is written in Hebrew square Ashkenazi script in brown ink on the flesh side of parchment sheets that are rather bright and smooth.
The scroll starts with an enlarged word ויהי.
The letters ח (Es. 1:6) and ת (Es. 9:29) are enlarged; the first of them is additionally highlighted by its form. Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 14.
Col. 14 includes unusual and decorative letters פ.
The ruling - horizontal and vertical lines - is made with a hardpoint and barely visible. The horizontal lines are well visible on the blank side of the membranes.
The pricking is invisible.
The sheets in the scroll are stitched together.
There are ligatures of א and ל letters in the benedictions.
A short description of the scroll and its images are available on https://data.jck.nl/page/aggregation/jhm-museum/M000413 (accessed on 10.07.2021).
Other scrolls sharing the same or similar pattern are discussed for example 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.
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.
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], Praha 2006, 37.