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    General Document
© Museum of Ancient Jewish Art and History (AEJM), Photographer: N/A, 7.2019, Negative/Photo. No. M001468.
Name/Title
AEJM Shalom Italia Engraved Esther Scroll with Ladies | Unknown
Object Detail
col. 8
Date
1640s
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Italia (d'Italia), Shalom ben Mordecai (engraver in Amsterdam)
(Unknown)
{"2322":"ca. 1619, Mantova \u2013 1655 or 1664) was one of the most creative Jewish artists of the 17th century. After he left Italy, he settled in Amsterdam in 1641, where he was active for just over a decade; later he returned to his home country. During his stay in Amsterdam, he designed borders for two printed ketubbot, engraved portraits of a few eminent Jewish personalities, and created several lavishly decorated engraved and hand-drawn borders for Esther scrolls, most of which are based on architectural frames and motifs."}
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community
Unknown |
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Period Detail
Category
Material/Technique
Ink and paints on parchment (printed and colored decoration, handwritten text) + ivory and wood
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
The scroll: the opening decoration and the first 9 columns of the text cover a parchment sheet that is 650 mm long.

The case: 220 mm (height).
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition

The manuscript (the text, decorations, parchments, and case) is preserved in very good condition.

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
Description

The seventh column of text (sheet no. 2) is inscribed within an arch, which is surrounded by the engraved and painted decoration. The cartouche in the apex of the arch contains an urban landscape with a boat. The arch is flanked by the figures of Mordecai holding a book (on the right) and Haman with a sword (on the left). Below them, two landscapes: a rural landscape and a sea with boats on it are depicted.

Custom
Contents

The Book of Esther in Hebrew

Codicology
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
Signature
Below the empty cartouche of the opening decoration, the name of the artist in the Latin alphabet appears and says that he engraved the pattern - "Salom Italia sculp."
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Summary and Remarks

The scroll is on display in the Purim room, case no. 30.

For other scrolls sharing the same pattern see "Related objects"; yet another manuscript is stored in the Braginsky Collection in Zurich (megillah no. 27).

History/Provenance

Donated to the AEJM by heirs to Tiziana Momigliano (1911-2004).

Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography

The scroll is described in:

Claudia de Benedetti, Italia ebraica, storie ritrovate. Scritti in onore di Vivian Mann z.l. / Jewish Italy, rediscovered stories. Essays written in honor of Vivian Mann z.l., Roma 2019, 17-23.

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.

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, 1:155‒159.

Short Name
Full Name
Volume
Page
Type
Documenter
Dagmara Budzioch | 2020
Researcher
Dagmara Budzioch | 2020
Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconsdivuction
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Section Head
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Language Editor
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Donor
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Edit Img. ID: 328211