Manuscript Summary:This megillah is embellished with hand-painted, repeated architectural designs. The text is set between alternating straight and spiral marble columns. The Jews of Italy associated twisted columns with those of the Temple of Solomon, which they believed were brought to Rome by Titus and eventually placed in the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican. In terms of style, this scroll resembles the illuminated ketubot produced in Ferrara and Mantua. Accompanying this scroll is a separate sheet of parchment that, in addition to the benedictions, contains a liturgical hymn, korei megillah, recited by the Jews of Italy. Rabbis disagreed as to whether a scroll may include any extraneous text that is not part of the book of Esther. However, in some communities this led to the practice of creating an unattached sheet featuring the three benedictions traditionally recited prior to the reading of the megillah.(red)
Online Since: 03/22/2017
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, S12
Parchment · 1 + 1 f. · 22.2 x 137 cm + 22.8 x 17.4 cm · Italy · around 1775