Esther Scroll, Ancona, early 18th century
Handwritten text, unfinished decorated cut-away parchment Parchment, 8 membranes, 39 text columns, 23x458 cm Carved wooden roller Gift of Mrs. Erna Ascoli in memory of her husband U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art ON 0495
This scroll is a beautiful example of the particular style of decoration that flourished in the Italian towns of Ancona and Lugo in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Artists in these towns specialized in a laborious technique whereby the parchment was cut away to create an intricately patterned frame for the text that reminds us of the beautiful lace used in fashions of that period. This elaborate technique was employed to adorn megillot, ketubbot and a variety of Judaica objects. Only a few such Italian cut-out parchment scrolls remain today.
