A Woman Drawing Water from a Well

Artist Unknown

1619–1624

Manuscript page with illustration of woman drawing water from a well as another individual stands behind her with a pitcher of water on head, and Hebrew text above.
Sifre ‘evronot—manuals for calculating the Jewish calendar, including leap years and holidays—were a popular genre of Ashkenazic illustrated manuscripts in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, although there is evidence for them from the sixteenth century. Some include illustrations on themes from Jewish tradition, such as bible scenes, or references to the zodiac. This calendar manual was written in Hessen, Germany. The illustration depicts a woman drawing a bucket of water from what appears to be a public well decorated with an animal head. A servant stands nearby, carrying another container.

Credits

The National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Ms. Heb. 8°3247.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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