Parchment Sheet – "Blessings over the Megillah" Framed by a...
Parchment Sheet – "Blessings over the Megillah" Framed by a Hand-Painted Engraving – Italy, 16th Century – Only Extant Copy – One of Only Three Blessings Sheets Decorated with an Engraving by Andrea Marelli
Parchment sheet containing the "Blessings over the Megillah" recited on Purim before and after the reading of the "Megillah" (Esther scroll). Framed within a hand-painted engraving of fine quality by the engraver Andrea Marelli, [Rome, ca. 1570-1572].
Parchment sheet containing the "Blessings over the Megillah", handwritten in particularly beautiful square script. Framing the manuscript is an engraving created by the Italian painter and engraver Andrea Marelli, active in Rome ca. 1567-1572. The engraving is of a fine and delicate quality. It features two bare-breasted figures, a pair of recumbent infants (putti), and an additional pair of putti holding rabbits. These human figures are superimposed over an architectonic frame which includes curtains, bouquets of flowers and fruit, and grotesque masks, all in a style typical of Marelli’s works.
The identification of this engraving as one by Marelli is based on a comparison with another frame he created, which appears in the book by G.F. Creci entitled "Il perfetto scrittore", printed in Rome in 1570 (see enclosed material, and article by Eva Frojmovic, listed below).
Only three Esther scrolls framed with engravings by Andrea Marelli are known to be extant, and they are thought to be the earliest examples of Esther scrolls bearing engraved illuminations ever created: The first is part of the Collection of the Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio; the second belongs to the Collection of the British Library, London; and the third can be found in the collection of Dr. David and Jemima Jeselsohn, Zurich. Of these, only the third includes a matching sheet of Megillah blessings. An additional sheet of blessings over the Megillah is documented in the "Jüdisches Lexikon" (Berlin, 1930), but its current whereabouts are unknown.
The present sheet of "Blessings over the Megillah" can thus be included with the other two known sheets, but it is distinguishable from them in its distinct design, and as such represents a new and previously unknown type of sheet of Esther scroll blessings engraved by this artist. Its particular design, and the particular way it was painted, suggest that it was originally attached to the Esther scroll kept in the British Library, mentioned above.
Parchment sheet: 17X24.5 cm. Engraving: 16X21.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains. Tears to edges and two pinholes. Creases. Remnants of glue on verso (resulting from old framing).
References:
1. Mendel Metzger, "The Earliest Engraved Italian Megilloth", Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Vol. 48, no. 2, 1966, pp. 381-432.
2. Eva Frojmovic, "The ‘Perfect Scribe’ and an early engraved Esther scroll", The British Library Journal, Vol. 23, no. 1, Spring 1997, pp. 68-80.
For comparison, see: The Center for Jewish Art (CJA), item no. 39632; Collection of the British Library, item no. Or 13028; Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Klau Library, item no. IX. 6; Christie’s, Amsterdam, auction no. 2537, June 18, 2022, lot no. 389.
Provenance: The Richard Levy (1930-2019) Collection, Florida.
Bid on this lot
Parchment Sheet – "Blessings over the Megillah" Framed by a Hand-Painted Engraving – Italy, 16th Century – Only Extant Copy – One of Only Three Blessings Sheets Decorated with an Engraving by Andrea Marelli
Parchment sheet containing the "Blessings over the Megillah" recited on Purim before and after the reading of the "Megillah" (Esther scroll). Framed within a hand-painted engraving of fine quality by the engraver Andrea Marelli, [Rome, ca. 1570-1572].
Parchment sheet containing the "Blessings over the Megillah", handwritten in particularly beautiful square script. Framing the manuscript is an engraving created by the Italian painter and engraver Andrea Marelli, active in Rome ca. 1567-1572. The engraving is of a fine and delicate quality. It features two bare-breasted figures, a pair of recumbent infants (putti), and an additional pair of putti holding rabbits. These human figures are superimposed over an architectonic frame which includes curtains, bouquets of flowers and fruit, and grotesque masks, all in a style typical of Marelli’s works.
The identification of this engraving as one by Marelli is based on a comparison with another frame he created, which appears in the book by G.F. Creci entitled "Il perfetto scrittore", printed in Rome in 1570 (see enclosed material, and article by Eva Frojmovic, listed below).
Only three Esther scrolls framed with engravings by Andrea Marelli are known to be extant, and they are thought to be the earliest examples of Esther scrolls bearing engraved illuminations ever created: The first is part of the Collection of the Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio; the second belongs to the Collection of the British Library, London; and the third can be found in the collection of Dr. David and Jemima Jeselsohn, Zurich. Of these, only the third includes a matching sheet of Megillah blessings. An additional sheet of blessings over the Megillah is documented in the "Jüdisches Lexikon" (Berlin, 1930), but its current whereabouts are unknown.
The present sheet of "Blessings over the Megillah" can thus be included with the other two known sheets, but it is distinguishable from them in its distinct design, and as such represents a new and previously unknown type of sheet of Esther scroll blessings engraved by this artist. Its particular design, and the particular way it was painted, suggest that it was originally attached to the Esther scroll kept in the British Library, mentioned above.
Parchment sheet: 17X24.5 cm. Engraving: 16X21.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains. Tears to edges and two pinholes. Creases. Remnants of glue on verso (resulting from old framing).
References:
1. Mendel Metzger, "The Earliest Engraved Italian Megilloth", Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Vol. 48, no. 2, 1966, pp. 381-432.
2. Eva Frojmovic, "The ‘Perfect Scribe’ and an early engraved Esther scroll", The British Library Journal, Vol. 23, no. 1, Spring 1997, pp. 68-80.
For comparison, see: The Center for Jewish Art (CJA), item no. 39632; Collection of the British Library, item no. Or 13028; Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Klau Library, item no. IX. 6; Christie’s, Amsterdam, auction no. 2537, June 18, 2022, lot no. 389.
Provenance: The Richard Levy (1930-2019) Collection, Florida.
