Northern Italy area, 1671
Wood, ink, and watercolour on parchment, 46 × 258 cm (megillah), 17 × 13 cm (blessing sheet) Ownership (inside the megillah’s oval): purchase of Yosef, son of Rabbi Ben Zion Yehoshuah Cohen Zedek (Sacerdoti)
Casale Monferrato, Museo di Arte e Storia Antica Ebraica, inv. 224
The ownership note allows us to date this item with good approximation. In fact, we have the ketubah signed for the marriage of the commissioning party, Yosef Coen (Sacerdoti), whose wedding took place in Casale Monferrato on 13 Sivan 5431 (June 16, 1671). In 1966, 350 years later, the megillah was donated to the Jewish Museum of Casale Monferrato by the Sacerdoti family, after being possibly kept by the same family for three centuries. The characteristics of its spelling can be found in numerous Sifreh Torah related to the Piedmont area. The initial part is decorated with floral elements and includes a deer, a lion, an eagle, and a leopard. In the lower edge, scenes narrating the Book of Esther are depicted, while the upper margin is decorated with a balustrade with flower vases and pairs of cocks and turkeys.
AS, OM