Select manuscript from this collection: B26  S86 S91  S102  101/107

Country of Location:
Country of Location
Switzerland
Location:
Location
Zürich
Library / Collection:
Library / Collection
Braginsky Collection
Shelfmark:
Shelfmark
S90
Manuscript Title:
Manuscript Title
Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll
Caption:
Caption
Parchment · 1 f. · 30.5 x 461 cm · Italy · around 1650
Language:
Language
Hebrew
Manuscript Summary:
Manuscript Summary
The opening panel of this megillah (on 4 leaves with 34 columns of text) shows a rampant lion with a palm frond, surrounded by four birds and insects. Above it, an inscription gives the name “Salomon Marinozzi”, presumably the original owner. To its right, a cartouche containing the name of his son as owner, was probably added later: “This scroll belongs to Mordecai, son of Solomon Marinozzi of blessed memory, and it was bought by Solomon […] in the year 1652.” (flu)
DOI (Digital Object Identifier):
DOI (Digital Object Identifier
10.5076/e-codices-bc-s-0090 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5076/e-codices-bc-s-0090)
Permanent link:
Permanent link
http://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/s-0090
IIIF Manifest URL:
IIIF Manifest URL
IIIF Drag-n-drop http://e-codices.ch/metadata/iiif/bc-s-0090/manifest.json
How to quote:
How to quote
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S90: Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll (http://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/s-0090).
Online Since:
Online Since
12/10/2020
External resources:
External resources
Rights:
Rights
Images:
(Concerning all other rights see each manuscript description and our Terms of use)
Document Type:
Document Type
Scroll/Roll
Century:
Century
17th century
Decoration:
Decoration
Figurative, Ornamental, Text Block, Tinted Drawing
Liturgica hebraica:
Liturgica hebraica
Megillah
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e-codices · 10/13/2020, 15:55:25

Occasionally it is possible to glean information regarding the provenance of decorated Hebrew manuscripts from the presence of a distinguishing family device. Family emblems were frequently depicted on the opening panel of Italian megillot produced during the seventeenth century. While the Jews of Italy were not granted formal coats of arms by the ruling authorities, Jewish families adopted heraldic devices and created their own insignias. Affluent Italian Jews used these informal family emblems on personal items as well as on Judaica they commissioned, such as marriage contracts, synagogue textiles, silver bookbindings, and Esther scrolls.
This otherwise undecorated Italian megillah is adorned with an elaborate ornamental opening panel featuring a heraldic device that depicts a rampant lion facing an elongated palm frond. The crest is surrounded by four birds and two winged insects set within a square foliate frame. The panel is painted in shades of orange, green, and yellow, a palette commonly employed in the decoration of Italian megillot in this period.
A cartouche placed in the upper border of the opening panel contains the name Solomon Marinozzi, presumably the original owner of the scroll. A second, more elaborate cartouche to the right of the opening panel contains a later inscription. While the name of the purchaser is difficult to read, the inscription says: “This scroll belongs to Mordecai, son of Solomon Marinozzi of blessed memory,and it was bought by Solomon [...] in the year 1652.” The large, square Sephardic script and generous dimensions of the parchment are characteristic features of seventeenth-century Italian scrolls; they demonstrate a desire to create a luxurious and eminently readable text.
The scroll is mounted on a large seventeenth-century wooden roller of a type that was often employed for Italian megillot from this period. The handle is composed of convex bands, while the upper section features a turned and carved wooden crown topped by a knob.

A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, ed. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 238.

e-codices · 10/13/2020, 15:51:06

Auf den Eingangspartien von Megillot aus Italien tauchen häufig Familienembleme auf, die Rückschlüsse auf die Herkunft und soziale Verortung dieser Rollen erlauben. Solche Embleme sind allerdings keine Nobilitierungswappen, die zu führen Juden meist verwehrt war. Wir finden sie in Italien auf unterschiedlichen Judaica-­Objekten wie Ketubbot, synagogalen Textilien, silbernen Bucheinbänden oder eben Estherrollen.
Das Emblem auf dieser Rolle zeigt einen aufsteigenden heraldischen Löwen mit einem Palmzweig, umgeben von vier Vögeln und zwei Insekten. Die kleine Inschrift über dem Löwen nennt den vermutlichen Erstbesitzer «Salomon Marinozzi», während in der zweiten, grösseren und wohl später eingefügten Kartusche steht: «Diese Rolle gehört Mordechai, dem Sohn des Salomon Mari­nozzi, gesegnet sei sein Andenken, und sie wurde gekauft von Salomon [...] im Jahr 1652».

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 260.

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A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, ed. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 238.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 260.

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Reference Images and Binding


Front cover