Obj. ID: 36176 Museo Sefardí Benedictions Sheet for Esther Scroll, Italy, 18th century
3 image(s)
The cardboard base: 4 mm (thickness).
The sheet is preserved in good condition although paints are worn off in some places.
At present gold paint is rather brown.
This is a rare example of a separate benediction sheet preserved without a scroll. The decoration is composed of four arches and the spaces between them are filled with the initial and final benedictions for the Megillah reading and the complete Purim poems ארור המן ("Arur Haman") and קוראי מגילה ("Korei Megillah"). The arches are decorated with ornaments and the columns' shafts are decorated with floral motives. Additionally, small bouquets are placed between the arches. A gold frame surrounds the composition. The parchment sheet is placed on a cardboard base.
The initial and final benedictions for the Megillah reading and the complete text of the liturgical poems for Purim ארור המן ("Arur Haman") and קוראי מגילה ("Korei Megillah")
The text is inscribed in the Hebrew square Italian-Sephardi script.
Every benediction and stanza of the poem starts with an enlarged gold word, written separately from the rest of the text.
The benedictions contain a ligature of א and ל letters. The Tetragrammaton is replaced by a composition of two letters י with an elongated and bent flag of ל letter and a leg of א letter.
The inscription in Hebrew: יוסף ישראל משען יצ''ו (Josef Israel Mishan) is included in a decorative "base" of the central column separating the text.
The benedictions inscribed on separate decorated sheets were typical for Jewish communities of the Apennine Peninsula; for their examples see "Related objects".
A short description of the manuscript in Spanish and its images are available on http://ceres.mcu.es (16.10.2020).