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Item: Megillat Esther



JTS_Megillah_v3.jpg.jpg
JTS_Megillah_v3.jpg
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Title: Megillat Esther
Keywords: Judaica
Scroll
Italian Jewry
Issue Date: 1675
Citation: http://www.jtsa.edu/library/exhib/precious/04.shtml
Abstract: Megillat Esther, Italy, ca. 1675 From the collection of the Jewish Theological Seminary. "The biblical book of Esther, which is read publicly in the synagogue on Purim, must be recited from a handwritten parchment scroll." http://www.jtsa.edu/library/exhib/precious/04.shtml
Description: "The earliest decorated scrolls of Esther date to the mid-sixteenth century. Italian Jewry produced numerous lavishly illustrated scrolls, replete with putti, flora and fauna. The scheme of ornamentation in this scroll is indicative of the way in which the Jews of Italy incorporated contemporary cultural aesthetics into their ceremonial objects. The scroll opens with the image of a nude woman, and putti recline on the upper balustrade throughout the megillah. Eighteen narrative vignettes appear in the lower panels beneath the text; the scenes begin with the feasts of Ahasuerus and Vashti and end with Esther and Mordecai recording the Purim story. In cartouches above the text, the repeated image of hands positioned in the gesture of a Priestly Benediction suggests that the scroll's original owner was a kohen, a member of the priestly tribe." http://www.jtsa.edu/library/exhib/precious/04.shtml
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1964/341
Appears in Collections:3. Text and Image

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1964/341

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