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© Gross Family Collection (GFC), Photographer: Bar Hama, Ardon, -, Negative/Photo. No. M002228.
Name/Title
GFC Moshe ben Avraham Pescarolo Esther Scroll | Unknown
Object Detail
cols. 4 and 5
Date
1610s
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community
Unknown |
Location
Unknown |
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Period Detail
Collection
Category
Material/Technique
Ink and paints on parchment
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
The scroll: 280x4685 mm.
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
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

Sheet no. 1

The fourth and fifth text columns are surrounded by hand-painted decorations.

The scene within the fourth frame depicts Queen Vashti's banquet (Es. 1:9). The queen sits at the table with three other women and a man in dark (black?) clothes and a long cap or turban on his head. Three maidservants attend her and two servants serve the table.

The scene within the fifth frame depicts King Ahasuerus commanding his servants to bring Vashti before him (Es. 1:10-11). On the right, the king is seated on the throne atop a platform and seven courtiers or seven princes of Media and Persia in front of him are standing. 

In the small frame below the text column is a cityscape.

Custom
Contents

The Book of Esther in Hebrew

Codicology

The scroll is formed of 6 sheets containing 31 columns of the text with 12 or 13 lines, and col. 24 contains 11 lines divided into two half-columns.

The number of text columns per membrane: nos. 1 and 2 - 5 columns, nos. 3-5 - 6 columns, no. 6 - 3 columns.

The text is inscribed in the Hebrew square Italian-Sephardi script with very long tagin in brown-black ink on parchment sheets. The side of the text and decoration is brighter than the blank side is very smooth.

The letter ח (Es. 1:6) is slightly larger than an average letter in the scroll and is formed of two components joined with a roof. The letter ת (Es. 9:29) is enlarged.

The ruling is invisible.

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
Signature
Colophon

A short Hebrew inscription appears below the last column of the text in the scroll and says:

מעשה ידי משה פשקרול - "The work of my hands, Moshe Pescarol(o)".

Scribal Notes
Watermark
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Summary and Remarks

The artist's family had immigrated from Germany to Italy the generation before Moshe ben Avraham; some of its members were book printers.

In scholarly literature, different spellings of the surname can be found; the most popular are Pescarol and Pescarolo. Other variants include: Pascarolo, Pascarol ("פַּשְׂקַרוֹל"), Piscarol, Pescarolo, Poscarel, Poscarela, Pescaroli, Pescaraolo. See M. Mortara, Indice alfabetico dei rabbini e scrittori Israeliti, Padova 1886, p. 49.

History/Provenance
Main Surveys & Excavations
Bibliography

This bibliography lists the publications on all three currently known megillot Esther made by Moshe ben Avraham Pescarolo:

Florence Mansano Soulam, בסוד מגילותיו של הסופר-המאייר משה בן אברהם פשקרול: ניתוח מגילות פשקרול בתוך הקונטקסט ההיסטורי של איטליה בראשית המאה השבע-עשרה [Unveiling the Secrets of the Scrolls of Moshe Pescarolo Scribe and Artist. An Analysis of Pescarolo’s Scrolls in the Historical Context of Italy in the Early 17th Century], doctoral dissertation: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2006.

Mendel Metzger, The John Rylands Megillah and Some Other Illustrated Megilloth of the 15th to 17th Centuries, "Bulletin of the John Rylands Library" 1962 (45), 148–184, esp. 166–171.

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, 1:89-92.

Dagmara Budzioch, Midrashic Tales in Seventeenth and Eighteenth-century Illustrated Esther Scrolls, "Kwartalnik Historii Żydów” 2017, no 3 (263), 405–422, esp. 408, 410, 411, 414, 415.

Dagmara Budzioch, Italian Origins of the Decorated Scrolls of Esther, "Kwartalnik Historii Żydów" 2016, no 1 (257), 35–49, esp.. 40–43.

Short Name
Full Name
Volume
Page
Type
Documenter
Dagmara Budzioch | 2020
Researcher
Dagmara Budzioch | 2020
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