Budapest Esther Scroll

Budapest Esther Scroll

The Book of Esther is one of the five scrolls in the Hebrew Bible and its story forms the backbone of the festival of Purim, which commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from a genocide by the Persians. After being selected by King Ahasuerus, who is believed by most modern scholars to have been King Xerxes I (519-465 BC), the Hebrew woman Esther becomes Queen of the Persians and uses her influence to thwart the vizier Haman’s desire to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire. Instead, Haman, his sons, and their followers are the ones who are massacred. The text of the Book of Esther is interesting in that it is one of only two books in the Hebrew Bible that does not explicitly mention God. Unlike other apocalyptic texts like the Book of Daniel, in which the Jews are saved by divine intervention, the crisis depicted in the Book of Esther is resolved solely through human action. The story is considered to be of such importance that it is read twice during Purim. Here the story is presented in a lovingly illuminated Renaissance scroll rendered in delicate pastel colors. Human figures play instruments, cherubs hold up crowns, great vases hold flowers, and classical architectures surround the splendid Hebrew text. Bas-de-page miniatures in floral frames illustrate the events of the text. It is a refined work of illumination worthy of this historic Jewish festival.