A RARE FRENCH ILLUSTRATED MEGILLAT ESTHER (SCROLL OF ESTHER) [Alsace, 18th century]

Ink and gouache on parchment, (11 x 50 in.: 280 X 2500 mm). Text written in square Ashkenazic script arranged in 12 columns with 20-22 lines to a column. Text preceded by an opening panel with empty cartouche.

The creation of illustrated megillot was widespread throughout European Jewries in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and a large corpus of decorated scrolls remains extant, most notably from major centers of Jewish life such as Italy and Amsterdam.  Surprisingly however, few illustrated megillot produced in the Alsace region of eastern France, with its substantial Jewish population, have survived.  Consequently, this rare exemplar of an Alsatian Esther Scroll, one of only a handful produced in the 18^th century, must be considered to be of extreme importance.

Depicted between text columns are the characters of the Esther story, while above and below, a series of miniatures provides a visual narration of the Biblical tale.  The folk-artist of this scroll employed a vivid color palette, making use of bright colors—powder blue, ochre, yellow and green—to dramatic effect. The costumes, the gowns, boots and hats resemble those that appear in other Alsatian illustrated Jewish objects of the period including Torah binders, haggadot and mizrah plaques.  The bold floral motif that runs through the entire length of the scroll is likewise characteristic of megillot produced in Alsace during this period.  The parallel to other Alsatian Judaica extends also to iconographic elements such as the illustration of the ten sons of Haman in two groups on either side of the text column bearing their names, while their father hangs upon his own gibbet above the text.  Traditionally, scribes of Esther scrolls will write the names of Haman’s ten sons in a separate column.  In this manuscript, the irregular division of the text to accommodate this tradition can be seen in several instances. The preceding column exhibits a drastic narrowing of the last six lines, with the last line comprising only a single word.  The “Sons of Haman” column is “doubled up” with the following column to maintain the feel of the previous spacing.  Perhaps most charming is the final text panel, no longer a column but rather a text oval supported by two rampant lions, yet another typical decorative motif common to Alsatian Jewish manuscripts.

The present scroll is one of a very few megillot that can be linked to the Jewish communities of Alsace; it elegantly and exquisitely captures the spirit of the local folk art tradition and is an important witness to an exceedingly rare cultural legacy.