Obj. ID: 37874  JML Illustrated Esther Scroll with Double-Head Eagles and Garlands, Germany or Alsace, mid-18th century

The scroll opens with a prefatory panel containing 11 smaller panels. The oval one, in the center, is dedicated to the initial benedictions and all remaining panels are filled with narrative scenes from the Book of Esther. This composition is based on two groups of popular scrolls with printed borders produced in Amsterdam in the early 18th century (in the Index see "scrolls with landscapes" and "scrolls with portrait medallions"). The Hebrew text of the Book of Esther is inscribed in rectangular panels that are surrounded by hand-painted ornamentation. The upper margins are adorned with a floral motif alternately with a basket of flowers separated by oval medallions with landscapes; from them, garlands are suspending. Additionally, above the 4th, 8th, and 12th text panels, double-headed eagles are depicted. They are flanked by baskets filled with flowers that are standing on putti's heads; figures of putti are placed in the upper parts of the spaces between the panels. Below them, ovals with landscapes appear. The lower margins are precisely filled with the narrative scenes from the Book of Esther in oval frames. They are separated either by pedestals with busts or by flower-filled vases. An additional illustration - the hanging of Haman's sons (Es. 9:14) - is incorporated in col. 10.