Country of Location: |
Country of Location
Switzerland
|
Location: |
Location Zürich |
Library / Collection: |
Library / Collection
Braginsky Collection
|
Shelfmark: | Shelfmark S94 |
Manuscript Title: | Manuscript Title Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll |
Caption: | Caption Parchment · 1 f. · 7.9 x 301 cm · Italy · middle of the 18th century |
Language: |
Language
Hebrew |
Manuscript Summary: | Manuscript Summary The text on this Esther scroll (on 5 sheets with 42 columns of text) is written in unusually narrow columns, set in golden frames on a greenish background. The hexagonal case made of cast, chased, engraved and granulated silver bears the silver hallmarks of the city of Rome and of the manufacturer Giovanni Battista Sabatini from 1778 to 1780. The initials alef, resh and samech refer to the patron and to the owner. What is unusual is that in this case, the complete original set of scroll, case and leather box has been preserved. |
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): | DOI (Digital Object Identifier 10.5076/e-codices-bc-s-0094 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5076/e-codices-bc-s-0094) |
Permanent link: | Permanent link http://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/s-0094 |
IIIF Manifest URL: |
IIIF Manifest URL
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How to quote: | How to quote Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S94: Megillah Esther (מגילת אסתר) / Esther scroll (http://e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/s-0094). |
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
18th century |
Decoration: |
Decoration
Gold / Silver, Margin, Ornamental |
Liturgica hebraica: |
Liturgica hebraica
Megillah |
e-codices · 10/13/2020, 16:26:32
During the eighteenth century the art of decorated Esther scrolls reached its height in the ghettos of Italy, where wealthy families commissioned skilled craftsmen to create richly illuminated manuscripts and fine silver cases. This suite of an Esther scroll, case, and box is unusual in that the individual elements of this set of ceremonial objects, commissioned by a patron in eighteenth-century Rome, have been preserved together. It is unusual for such objects to have been maintained as a unified group.
The text of the scroll, written in forty-two columns, is arranged so that each line is unusually short, with only five to six words. Each text column is set in a rectangular frame painted in gold over a greenish undercoat. The opening words of the benedictions and of the book of Esther are written in large ornamental gold script.
The hexagonal case for the Esther scroll is topped by a three-dimensional finial in the form of a rampant lion emerging from the petals of a flower. The case is ornamented with engraved intertwined scroll patterns and floral motifs, and with granulation on the upper and lower sections. It bears city and maker hallmarks for 1778–1780, which is also the approxi mate date of the scroll.
The box that houses the case and scroll is the simplest object in the suite, but it is also the rarest element in the group. Made of wooden panels covered with tooled leather, it is fastened with two clasps. Such original boxes rarely survive with their Esther scrolls and cases. This box matches exactly the dimensions of the silver case.
The silver case is engraved with the Hebrew characters alef, resh, samekh, probably the initials of the patron and owner. The rampant lion at the top of the case refers to a family crest; several Jewish families in Rome are known to have used similar devices. Because the family surname, based on the engraved Hebrew monogram, appears to have begun with a samekh, this heraldic emblem can be associated with the Di Segni or Scazzocchio families.
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. 280.
e-codices · 10/13/2020, 16:20:59
Ihren Höhepunkt erreichte die Kunst der Megilla-Ausschmückung während des 18. Jahrhunderts in den Ghettos Italiens, wo wohlhabende Familien bei professionellen Herstellern reich illustrierte Handschriften und zierliche Silberhülsen in Auftrag gaben. Ganz selten blieb aber das vollständige originale Set von Rolle, Hülse und Lederetui erhalten, wie es hier der Fall ist.
Der Text der Rolle ist in ungewöhnlich kleinen Kolumnen geschrieben, so dass jede Zeile nur fünf oder sechs Wörter enthält. Die Kolumnen sind mit grünen und goldenen Rahmenlinien eingefasst. Die Anfangswörter des einleitenden Segensspruchs und des Bibeltexts sind mit grossen goldenen Buchstaben geschrieben und verstärken so den Eindruck eines besonders edlen und kostbaren Schmuckobjekts.
Die sechseckige Hülse weist die Silbermarken der Stadt Rom und des Herstellers Giovanni Battista Sabatini von 1778 bis 1780 auf. An prominenter Stelle neben dem Eingangsschlitz für die Rolle sind mit den hebräischen Schriftzeichen Alef, Resch und Samech die Initialen des Auftraggebers und Besitzers eingraviert. Der steigende Löwe mit Palmzweig an der Spitze des Hülsenkörpers bezieht sich sehr wahrscheinlich auf ein Familienemblem, wie es von mehreren jüdischen Geschlechtern in Rom in ähnlicher Weise verwendet wurde. Es handelt sich hier wohl um das Emblem einer Familie, deren Name mit einem Samech begann, etwa der Di Segni oder der Scazzocchio.
Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 316.
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. 280.
Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 316.