Portrait of R. Moshe Nasch. Unknown artist (unsigned). [Presumably the Netherlands, early 19th century]. Oil on canvas, mounted on wood panel.
The portrait is enclosed within an illustrated round frame supported by three books. Under the portrait is the inscription: "Depiction of the splendid countenance of the sage… R. Moses Nasch Rabbi and yeshiva dean of Zwolle and the region".
R. Moshe son of Yoel Nasch (alternatively, MiNasch), a Dutch rabbi of the 18th-19th centuries, served for some thirty years as posek in Nijkerk, Gelderland. In 1802, he was appointed as Rabbi of Zwolle, Overijssel. He passed away in Elul 1807. In the introduction to his Yismach Moshe (Leiden, 1771), he recounts his life story in flowery Hebrew, stating that as a young man, he wandered from one city to the next, sermonizing to the Jewish public at large, "showing the people the path to teshuvah, and instructing them on how to mend their ways". At one point in time, he fell victim to false charges and was consequently imprisoned by the authorities, but was released thanks to petitions delivered on his behalf by R. Shaul Rabbi of Amsterdam, and his brother-in-law, R. Shaul HaLevi Rabbi of The Hague. Following his marriage, after receiving rabbinical ordination from R. Saul of Amsterdam, he was appointed as posek in Nijkerk. Toward the end of his life, he served as Rabbi of Zwolle. In addition to Yismach Moshe, he published a prayer order – entitled "Mizmor Shir Chanukat HaBayit" (Amsterdam, 1801) – on the occasion of the inauguration of the synagogue in Nijkerk.
The three books pictured underneath the portrait represent the works of R. Moses Nasch: Yismach Moshe, Vayoel Moshe, and Vayaster Moshe; of the three, only Yismach Moshe (published, as previously stated, in 1771) is extant.
An engraving bearing an almost identical portrait of R. Moses Nasch was printed in the Netherlands in the early 19th century (the three books appear there with the aforementioned titles), and possibly, it was based upon the present oil painting. See: M.H. Gans, Memorbook, p. 263 (engraving by A. Joëls of Zwolle). See also Kedem, Auction 95, Lot 363.
Painting: approx. 27X20 cm. Frame: approx. 39.5X33.5 cm. Gilt frame, old. Handwritten inscription on back of frame: "Joel S fecit". Defects to painting and frame.
Provenance: "Kedem", Auction 100, Lot 3 (January 21, 2025).
Collection of Victor Klagsbald, Paris-Jerusalem.
Acquired in Amsterdam, Speyer Antiquariat, 1949.
