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Obj. ID: 34776
Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts
  MAHJ Griselini-Related Esther Scroll, Venice, mid-18th century

© Dagmara Budzioch, Photographer: Budzioch, Dagmara, 3.2015

The manuscript represents the Griselini-Related scrolls whose decoration imitates the scheme designed by Francesco Griselini (see "Griselini scrolls" in the Index). All Griselini-Related scrolls are formed of five sheets with four text panels per membrane and are produced in the mixed technique of the decorative border that is printed (in the exemplar from the Paris collection is also colored) and the hand-written text (in this exemplar inscribed in 19 columns). Its general composition is the same as in the Griselini scrolls and only minor details such as dogs present in the narrative scenes and the checkered floor, differ them.

The scheme is based on the row of arcades under which individual columns of the Hebrew text of the Book of Esther are inscribed. The text panels are separated by columns whose shafts are decorated with varying patterns and whose bases contain floral designs. The upper margins feature cartouches flanked by flowers, pairs of turkeys, roosters, parrots, or hoopoes with their heads turned away from each other on top of a balustrade; all four pairs of birds are printed in the same sequence continuously. On top of the cartouches between turkeys and parrots, there are crowned double-headed eagles, whereas turkeys or peacocks are placed above cartouches between roosters and hoopoes. Vases, flowers, and small citrus trees are interspersed regularly throughout the birds.

The lower margins are decorated with figurative scenes illustrating the narrative of the Book of Esther. They feature Italian architecture and are enclosed in rectangular frames separated by the columns' floral bases.

The same pattern repeats along with the scroll and only the narrative scenes on the subsequent sheets are different.

The scroll is mounted on a wooden roller with a decorative handle; it is likely that it originally was painted.

Summary and Remarks

The scroll is displayed on the MAHJ permanent exhibition.

The beginning of the manuscript is trimmed in a decorative shape.

The last lunette is blank; there was one line of the text inscribed in it but it was erased.

On the second and fifth membranes, the colors are very dense.

In some places, the prints and the text are visible on the blank side of the membranes.

Remarks

50 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
MAHJ Griselini-Related Esther Scroll | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Unknown
Date
Mid-18th century
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Unknown
Origin
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
France | Paris | Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme Paris (MAHJ)
| inv. D.98.04.074.CL (former number Cl 12296d)
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
Material / Technique
Ink and paints on parchment (printed and hand-colored border, handwritten text) + wood
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
The scroll: ca. 260x2200 mm.
The length of the membranes in the scroll: 1) ca. 535 mm, 2) 470 mm, 3) 465 mm, 4) 465 mm, 5) 465 mm. To the last membrane, a short parchment sheet is stitched; it joins the manuscript with the wooden roller.
Dimensions of the selected details in the scroll:
- the printed decoration - ca. 260x468 mm;
- a segment with a pair of birds - ca. 35 x ca. 90 mm;
- a balustrade - 27 mm (height);
- a text panel - 120 x ca. 82 mm;
- an illustration - 26x75 mm;
- an average letter: 3 mm (height);
- letters in col. 16: 6 mm (height).

The roller: ca. 540 mm (height).
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition

The scroll is generally preserved in very good condition but not equally good along the entire length of the scroll; the beginning of the manuscript is preserved in the worst condition.

The decoration is the most seriously damaged on the first sheet, whereas on other membranes it is still well preserved and colors are still dense.

The text is very well preserved even if some letters are a bit faded.

Several holes are visible in the fourth sheet, in panel 16 in which the names of Haman's sons are inscribed.

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
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents

The Book of Esther in Hebrew

Codicology

The manuscript is formed of 5 membranes containing a total of 19 text columns with 24 lines each, except for col. 16 with 11 lines divided into two half-columns. 

The text is written in a square Italian Hebrew script in black ink, on the flesh side of parchment membranes. Some of the letters end with serifs, e.g. the flag of the letter ל which is very characteristic for this scribe.

The letter ח (Es. 1:6) is a bit larger than other letters and exceptionally for this scribe, it is composed of two parts joined with a roof. The letter ת (Es. 9:29) is not enlarged, however, enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 16.

The ruling is made by a stylus and in the text panels it is slightly visible; only in the last lunette that is left blank, it is clearly visible.

The parchment is bright (the blank - hair - side is more yellow than the other), rather thin and stiff.

The membranes in the scroll are stitched together.

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
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

Formerly stored in the Strauss collection (no. 79). Donated by Rothschild. The former number of the manuscript is inscribed on a short parchment piece joining the scroll with the steam.

Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources

The scroll is described in:

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

A short description in French and several photographs are available on https://www.mahj.org/en/decouvrir-collections-betsalel/rouleau-d-esther-50121 (accessed on 24.05.2020).

Scrolls sharing the same pattern are discussed for example in:

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.

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.
The following information on this monument will be completed:
Unknown |