Img. ID: 355545
Sheet no. 3
The seventeenth and eighteenth columns of text are inscribed within arches surrounded by engraved decorations. In the octagons below the standing figures are depicted (from the right to the left):
16. Ahasuerus extending his scepter to Esther (Es. 8:4).
17. The king's messenger (Es. 8:14).
18. A group of soldiers (?); the depiction may show the fights between Jews and their enemies (Es. 9:5-12).
A | Arch
C | Columns
A | Allegory
H | Human Figure | Female
V | Vase | Vase with flowers
G | Garland
M | Mask
O | Ornamentation: | Cartouche
L | Landscape
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | *Esther's Story Characters (depicted not in narrative scenes): | Esther, the queen
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | *Esther's Story Characters (depicted not in narrative scenes): | Mordecai, the Jew
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | *Esther's Story Characters (depicted not in narrative scenes): | Haman, the vizier
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Ahasuerus extending his scepter to Esther (Es. 8:4)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Ahasuerus' messenger(s) (Es. 8:14)
E | Esther, Book of (following the order of the story) | Jews battle their enemies (Es. 9:5-12)
O | Ornamentation: | Main text framed
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In general, the manuscript (the text, decorations, and parchments) is well preserved.
The silk is dirty.
The Book of Esther in Hebrew preceded by the initial benedictions.
The scroll is formed of 4 sheets. The first 3 sheets contain in total 22 columns with the text of the Book of Esther and the two additional panels are written on the fourth sheet. Each column includes 21 lines, except for col. 19 which has 19 lines, col. 20 which has 11 lines divided into two half-columns, and col. 22 with 23 lines (the last two words of the book are written on the lower margin).
The number of columns of text per sheet: nos. 1 - 6 columns, nos. 2 and 3 - 8 columns, no. 4 - 2 columns.
The text is written in Hebrew square script in brown ink of different shades on the flesh side of parchment membranes.
The letters ח (Es. 1:6) and ת (Es. 9:29) are enlarged and bolded. Other enlarged and diminished letters are included in col. 20.
The text opens with an enlarged word ויהי written separately in the first line.
The name of Harbona in col. 14 starts with an enlarged letter ח that is formed of two parts joined with a roof.
The ruling is barely visible and only in a few places.
The pricking is invisible.
The membranes of the scroll are stitched together.
Within the last arcade (no. 22 on the fourth membrane), a short inscription by the scribe Moses Gabay in Portuguese is written: "Mosse gabay escreueo esta migila [two illegible words] 1470 [or 1670]".
It seems the illustrations were drawn with the same ink as the text was copied.
Some details on the third membrane are colored with orange paint.
The text in col. 20 is written in darker ink.
There are several scrolls sharing the same pattern and others adorned with different borders designed by the same artist (see "Related objects").
Bibliography concerning the scrolls designed by Shalom Italia or attributed to him:
Sharon Assaf, Emily D. Bilski, Salom Italia's Esther Scrolls and the Dutch Golden Age, Amsterdam 2011.
A Journey through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books, eds. E.M. Cohen, E. Schrijver, S. Liberman Mintz, Amsterdam 2009, 228-231 (describes another scroll designed by Shalom Italia).
Michael Garel, An Esther Scroll by Shalom Italia, "The Israel Museum Journal" 5 (Spring 1986), 107–108.
Mordecai Narkiss, Yeẓurato shel Shalom ben rabbi Mordechai Italia (1619–1655?) [The Oeuvre of the Jewish Engraver Salom Italia (1619–1655?)], "Tarbiz" 25(4), 1956, 441–451, and: ibidem no. 26(1), 1957, 87–101.
Shalom Sabar, A New Discovery: The Earliest Illustrated Esther Scroll by Shalom Italia, „Ars Judaica” 2012, no. 8, 119–136.
Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, eds. Emile Schrijver, Falk Wiesemann, Evelyn M. Cohen, Sharon Liberman Mintz, Menahem Schmeltzer, Zurich 2011, 274‒279.