Portrait of R. Shlomo Zalman [Lipschitz], author of Chemdat Shlomo. Lithograph by an unknown artist. [Warsaw?, 1839].
R. Lipschitz is depicted dressed in festive clothing, sitting in an elaborately decorated sukkah, with various sukkah posters featured within a large fish-shaped frame, representing the Leviathan. The rabbi's attendant is seen standing beside him, holding the Four Species. Beneath the portrait, there is a poem in honor of the rabbi (forming the acrostic: "Shlomo Zalman"), followed by the Hebrew caption "Light of the Diaspora, R. Shlomo Zalman, Rabbi of Warsaw, passed away on Tuesday, 11th Nisan 1839 at the age of 75". Polish caption: "Salomon Lipszyc. Rabin z miasta Warszawy".
R. Shlomo Zalman Lipschitz (1765-1839), born in Posen (Poznań). First rabbi of Warsaw, author of Responsa Chemdat Shlomo on the four parts of Shulchan Aruch.
Approx. 25X36.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains. Folding marks and creases. Tears professionally restored. Trimmed margins. Mounted on cardboard and matted.
Portraits of similar design are documented in Magdalena Czubińska's article on rabbinic portraits in the National Museum of Cracow, but this portrait is not featured there.
See:
• In Eternal Memory Shall He Remain Righteous. Formed From the Dust of The Ground, More Splendid Than a Jewel. Lithographic Portraits of Rabbis in the Collection of the National Museum in Kraków; Printed in: Scripta Judaica Cracoviensia, Kraków, Vol. 11, (2013): 107-133.
• Great Jewish Treasures, by Moshe Bamberger. New York, 2015, p. 190-191.
Provenance: Kedem, Auction 93, Part 1, 31 July 2023, Lot 36.
