Decorated Esther Scroll with an accompanying blessing panel, Italy: 1812

Ink and gouache on parchment (8 x 128 in.; 203 x 3251 mm). Text written in square Hebrew script arranged in 17 columns of 17 lines on six membranes. Blessing panel (8 x 17 ¼  in.; 203 x 435 mm). Few light stains. Mounted on a turned wooden roller.

This profusely decorated scroll is ornamented with floral garlands, stylized fruit, and shell motifs painted in a bright palette of colors. An inscription at the end of the megillah informs us that it was created by Joseph Chayo for the groom Jacob son of David Sinigaglia.  Jacob's family originated in Senigallia, a town located in central Italy on the Adriatic coast. Several generations of this family served as rabbis in the town of Modena.  Other members of the family settled in the Northern Italian town of Gorizia.  This scroll may have belonged to the Jacob Sinigaglia who, in 1818, brought a court case in Italy to confirm the rights of the Jews to hold property. The accompanying blessing panel includes the liturgical hymn, Korei Megillah, which is traditionally recited by members of the Italian Jewish community.