Handwritten and hand-illuminated Esther Scroll. [Northern Italy, first half of the 17th century].
Ink and color paint on parchment.
Esther scroll written in Italian Stam script, on ten parchment sheets sewn together, 33 columns of text, 12-15 lines per column. An exceptionally long scroll (approx. 5.5 meters), richly illuminated throughout with hand-painted illustrations in red, orange, ochre, green, purple and blue, as well as silver and gold, especially prominent in the figures' garments.
The scroll's decorative layout, with the upper third devoted to narrative illustrations in rectangular frames and the lower two-thirds containing the text and vegetal-decorated frames, accords with design practices known from Italian Esther scrolls of the first half of the 17th century; paleographically, the letterforms likewise correspond to those found in Italian Esther scrolls of the period.
Illustrations
All text columns are enclosed within orange rectangular frames and rectangular panels decorated with a repeating vegetal motif in several variations. At the top of each column appears a miniature narrative illustration (33 illustrations in total), each with a rectangular crimson frame along its lower edge.
The thirty-three illustrations above the text columns depict episodes from the Esther narrative, as well as events drawn from Midrashic literature. They are arranged in chronological sequence, generally corresponding to the text below. The illustrations depict central scenes in detail (some include two scenes simultaneously) and portray the protagonists of the Megillah – King Ahasuerus, Vashti, Haman, Esther and Mordechai, as well as eunuchs, servants, soldiers and additional figures – clad in a mixture of Renaissance and Oriental dress, with emphasis on elaborate textile ornamentation.
Architectural settings shown in scenes outside the royal palace are rendered in Renaissance style, with some elements in an Oriental idiom. While the figures display a certain schematic quality reflecting the folk character of the artist, many scenes nevertheless demonstrate the artist's effort and ability to maintain perspective and volume, balanced proportions between figures and space, and particular attention to interior design, including wall decorations, columns, tiled floors and furniture.
The subjects of the illustrations are as follows:
• The ministers of the provinces assemble before Ahasuerus (damaged).
• The feast of King Ahasuerus.
• The king with several of his eunuchs.
• Vashti's feast and the arrival of the king's eunuchs.
• The king and his eunuchs.
• The beheading of Vashti.
• King Ahasuerus (holding a scroll) with several eunuchs.
• Esther is brought to the king's palace; the king extends his hand toward her.
• Mordechai stands at the king's gate; to his right are Bigthan and Teresh.
• King Ahasuerus gives his ring to Haman.
• The scribes write the decree.
• Mordechai at the king's gate, clothed in sackcloth and ashes.
• Hathach brings the decree to Esther.
• Jews gather at Esther's command, "Go, assemble all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast on my behalf…" (?); Esther looks out from a window.
• King Ahasuerus extends the golden scepter to Esther.
• A messenger of Ahasuerus hastens to summon Haman (?); at left, a figure holding a missive.
• The king's sleep is disturbed, his servants read before him from the Book of Records.
• Haman stands in the outside court of the king's palace, the king's attendants announce this to him.
• The king in his chamber, seated on the throne, instructs Haman to clothe Mordechai in royal raiment.
• Haman leads Mordechai on horseback.
• The king and Haman at Esther's second feast (Esther points her finger toward Haman).
• Haman kneels before Esther, pleading for his life; King Ahasuerus stands beside her.
• Esther and Mordechai stand beside the king, the king holds his scepter and extends his ring to Mordechai; in the background: the hanging of Haman.
• At right – inside the palace – two of the king's scribes write scrolls; at left – outside the palace – the couriers ride on horseback.
• One of the couriers rides on horseback and blows a horn (shofar), galloping across a bridge leading to a city; in the background, figures, a dog and buildings.
• Mordechai in royal raiment.
• The Jews "lay hands" on those who sought their harm, with arrows and spears.
• The ten sons of Haman hanging from a beam.
• Esther and Mordechai stand before King Ahasuerus.
• A celebratory feast with five figures seated around a table.
• Jews dancing at a ball with a mandolin player, three wear "medico della peste" masks with long beaks.
• Women at a ball with a violinist.
• A scene apparently depicting Purim night in a synagogue, at center are children holding Purim rattles.
Parallels: Scrolls by Moshe ben Avraham Pescarolo
The narrative character and abundance of the illustrations in the present scroll constituted an innovation in the first half of the 17th century. Until that time, illustrations in Esther scrolls had served as decoration alone, without reference to the narrative of the Purim story related in the text.
The earliest known Esther scrolls decorated with narrative scenes are the three scrolls created by scribe-illuminator Moshe ben Avraham Pescarolo in Ferrara, Italy, during the second decade of the 17th century. The earliest of these, dated 1616, is kept in the collection of the National Library of Israel, Jerusalem (Ms. Heb. 4° 197/89; facsimile published by Turnowsky, Tel Aviv, 1997). Another scroll, dated 1618, is kept in the collection of the John Rylands Library, Manchester (Hebrew MS 22). A third scroll (undated), formerly in the Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv (081.012.036), is now kept in the Jay Schottenstein Collection, USA. All three feature a colophon signed by the artist.
The general artistic layout of the present scroll closely recalls that of Pescarolo's scrolls, although there are many differences in spatial design, the character of the figures and the decorative motifs surrounding the text columns. There are also significant differences in the subjects depicted: certain themes appear both in Pescarolo's scrolls and in the present scroll, though rendered differently (e.g. the feast of Ahasuerus, Vashti's feast, Vashti's beheading, Mordechai in sackcloth and ashes, the Book of Records brought before the king, Haman leading Mordechai on horseback, and others), while other subjects appear in the present scroll but not at all in Pescarolo's works (e.g. Esther's arrival at the king's palace, Mordechai standing at the king's gate with Bigthan and Teresh, the king extending his ring to Mordechai, the Jews striking their enemies, and others).
Since the present scroll is neither signed nor dated, and despite the similarities between the scrolls, it is difficult to determine with certainty whether its creator was indeed familiar with or influenced by Pescarolo's works. Alternatively, it is possible that both artists were independently influenced by a common source and by an artistic scheme common in their time.
Height: 25-25.5 cm. Length of scroll: 554 cm. Overall good condition. Tears, some extensive, and missing pieces at beginning of first parchment sheet and at end of last sheet, professionally restored. Additional tears, stains, creases and wear, with severe damage to text of first two columns and damage to illustrations at beginning of first sheet, with restoration and textual infill. Sheets re-sewn together. Housed in new leather case with velvet lining.
Enclosed is an expert report on the composition of the pigments and paint layers, prepared by Michael Maggen, former Head of Paper Conservation at the Israel Museum.
Reference:
• Chaya Benjamin, The Stieglitz Collection: Masterpieces of Jewish Art, Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1987, pp. 258-259.
• Dagmara Budzioch, "Italian Origins of the Decorated Scrolls of Esther", Kwartalnik Historii Żydów, 1 (2016), pp. 35-49.
• Mendel Metzger, "The John Rylands Megillah and some other illustrated Megilloth of the XVth to XVIIth centuries", Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, 45/1 (1962), pp. 148-184.
• Florence Soulam, "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", unpublished PhD dissertation, supervised by Shalom Sabar, Jerusalem: The Hebrew University, 2006 (Hebrew, with English summary).
Our thanks to Prof. Shalom Sabar for his assistance in preparing this description.
