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Esther Scroll
Shalom Italia
1640
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Engraver, etcher, and draftsman Shalom Italia was, as his name indicates, from Italy, where his family worked in the Mantua printing industry. However, probably attracted by the opportunities in the growing metropolis, he made his way to Amsterdam by 1641. Among Shalom Italia’s works are illustrated ketubot (marriage contracts), book illustrations, and portraits of the community’s leading figures, such as Menasseh Ben Israel, who was the founder of Amsterdam’s first Hebrew printing press and an advocate for the readmission of Jews to England.
This is one of three known portraits of Jacob Judah Leon Templo, who was famous for his elaborate wooden model of the Temple of Solomon, which he turned into a traveling exhibition and showed and…
The Pinkas Synagogue is the second-oldest extant synagogue in Prague. It is believed that a synagogue was found in that location as early as 1492. The structure now housing the synagogue was founded…
This intricately decorated textile, possibly used as a Torah cover, was produced in Prague around 1600. Four squares adorn its center, the top two containing vases ringed by flowers and vines and the…