Esther scroll, handwritten and illustrated by the scribe-artist Aryeh Leib ben Daniel of Goraj. Godziszów, Poland, 9th Elul 5492 [August, 1732].
Ink on parchment; turned wood.
Esther scroll written on 4 parchment membranes sewn together (the fourth membrane is particularly small), 13 columns of text, 18-19 lines per column. Enlarged words and emphasis of letters of Holy Names; the twelfth column is written in an unusual way, with the names of Haman's ten sons arranged in three lines integrated within the text, with about 13 verses from chapter 9 written smaller in a separate text block, next to the left margin. Mounted on a wooden roller.
An important and rare Esther Scroll, produced by Aryeh Leib ben Daniel of Goraj; the earliest work of this scribe-artist, which serves as the basis and prototype for the dozens of scrolls he would produce in the decades to come.
The scroll is richly decorated in a fixed pattern: each column of text is bordered on the right and left by a pair of large figures standing on rectangular pedestals. Above each text column appears a large illustration depicting a scene from the Megillah story. To the right and left of each scene appear various illustrations on a vegetal background (see below).
In the last eight columns, on the pedestals, Aryeh Leib signed his name in a detailed colophon:
"Finished on the 9th of Elul 1732 / in Godziszów, / the work of my hands / Aryeh Leib son of R. / Daniel / from Goraj: / near Zamość in Lesser Poland".
Aryeh Leib ben Daniel, a talented and prolific scribe and artist, produced dozens of illustrated Esther scrolls between 1732-1755, about 20 of which include a colophon in which he signs his full name, "Aryeh Leib ben Daniel" and mentions his hometown, the Polish town of Goraj ("Goraj, Lesser Poland"). In addition to the scrolls that he wrote and illustrated himself, he also signed about seven scrolls decorated with engravings by Francesco Grisellini, in which he served only as scribe. In many of the scrolls that he produced, Aryeh Leib also named the location of writing – allowing us to trace his wanderings from Goraj, via nearby Godziszów, to Radensdorf and Schwelm (in Germany), Venice, Brescello and Pisa (Italy), and finally – Avignon, France. The present scroll is the earliest one he produced, and probably also the only one he created while still in Poland, before he set out on his travels.
Illustrations:
The thirteen large figures placed between the columns of text depict Moses (holding the Tablets of the Covenant) and Aaron (wearing a breastplate and holding a censer), followed by figures from the Purim story, some dressed in royal attire, representing Ahasuerus, Mordecai, Haman, Vashti and Esther, and others in military dress – with armor and shields, helmets, spears, or swords – representing the Persian and Median nobles.
Above each column of text appears a large illustration – in a rectangular or oval frame – depicting a scene from the Purim story. To the right and left of each scene appear pairs of putti (cherubs), birds or lions, against a vegetal background.
The themes of the large illustrations are as follows:
• Ahasuerus' feast.
• Vashti's feast for the women.
• The beheading of Vashti (based on the Midrash).
• Mordecai sits at the king's gate and hears the plot to assassinate the king; in the background, the hanging of Bigthan and Teresh.
• King Ahasuerus gives his ring to Haman.
• The Jews of Shushan weep and lament following the news of Haman's plot.
• King Ahasuerus extends the golden scepter to Esther.
• The king is unable to sleep and asks to have the book of chronicles read to him.
• Haman leads Mordecai on horseback and Haman's daughter empties a chamber pot on his head (based on the Midrash).
• The hanging of Haman (Ahasuerus and Esther are visible in the background).
• The Jews of Shushan rejoice, play music and dance.
• The Jews strike their enemies, against the backdrop of the hanging of Haman's ten sons.
• Mordecai and Esther write the Purim letter.
In his illustrations and designs, Aryeh Leib generally based his work on earlier scrolls, including the engraved scrolls created by Shalom Italia in the Netherlands about a century earlier and scrolls decorated with engravings printed in the Netherlands in the first half of the 18th century. His most famous scrolls are those created between 1744 and 1755; they generally reflect a consistent, uniform artistic language, and include meticulous line drawings in sepia tones, the complete figures of characters from the Purim story elegantly dressed, illustrations of hissing lions and birds, scenes from the Purim story, and medallions with minor figures from the Megillah. The present scroll – his earliest, dated and bearing his full name – thus constitutes a prototype for the scrolls he would produce over the next twenty years. Although the round medallions are absent, many characteristics which here appear for the first time would be repeated in most of his work and become his hallmark, including the large figures, the illustrations of lions and birds, and the emphasis of Holy Names.
Parchment height: 20.5 cm. Parchment length: 237.5 cm. Height including handle: 38.5 cm. Overall good condition. Some creases, wear and stains, mainly to beginning of first and to last membranes. Last membrane professionally restored and attached to a new piece of parchment, sewn to the wooden handle. Faded ownership inscription on back of first membrane: "Shimon son of R. Yaakov Mayarneck".
For more information and additional early scrolls by Aryeh Leib ben Daniel, see: Chaya Benjamin, The Stieglitz Collection: Masterpieces in Jewish Art, (The Israel Museum, 1987), item 186; Mendel Metzger A Study of Some Unknown Hand-Painted Megilloth of the 17th and 18th Centuries. An original article from the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library Manchester, 1963; René Braginsky Collection, S95; Sotheby's, New York, December 15, 2016, Lot 187; Sotheby's, New York, December 20, 2017, Lot 105; Sotheby's, New York, November 20, 2019, Lot 125; Jewish Museum of Amsterdam (JHM), item M000416; lecture by Sharon Liberman Mintz, A Wandering Scribe and his Illustrated Esther Scrolls (Center for Jewish Studies, Fordham University, March 2022, available on YouTube).
See also the next item.
