Portrait of Simcha Vaz (1582–1643), painted by her son, Moses Belmonte

Moses Belmonte

1642

Image

Portrait with circular border of seated older woman wearing wimple and stern expression and holding book in right hand, with Portuguese and Hebrew text below and around portrait. — Simcha (Gimar) Belmonte (born Vaz; 1582–1643) was the wife of Jakob Israel Belmonte (a poet, writer, and trader). She and her husband were among the founders of the Jewish community in Amsterdam after they moved there, having fled the Spanish Inquisition in 1610. This portrait bears the name of her son, Moses Belmonte, but the engraving is more likely to have been the work of his brother, Benjamin Godines Senior, who was an engraver. A poem in Portuguese below the portrait pays tribute to her. The object she is holding in her hand might be a small prayer book.

Credits

Photo Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam, V0750. Collection Portuguese Jewish Community Amsterdam.

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

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Creator Bio

Moses Belmonte was a poet and translator who wrote in Spanish. He was born in Amsterdam shortly after his family took refuge there from the Spanish Inquisition. His father, Jacob, was one of the founders of the Jewish community in Amsterdam. His Spanish translation of the Song of Songs was published in Hebrew characters in several editions of the Bible printed at Venice, and then in Amsterdam, in 1644, under the title Paraphrasis Caldaica en los Cantares de Selomo con el Texto: Traduzida en Lengua Española.