Treasures of Jewish Art: The 1673 Illuminated Scroll of Esther Offered to a Romanian Hierarch - Hardcover

by Bodea Cornelia (Author)

The Library of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest holds a rare piece of Jewish art from the seventeenth century, an illuminated scroll of the biblical Book of Esther, dated 1673. This manuscript is a unique example in terms of Jewish art because of two unique components. One of them is the date indicating a year in Cyrillic characters, viz. 7181 since the creation of the world according to Byzantine chronology, corresponding in the Gregorian calendar to the year 1673. The second component is the coat of arms of the Principality of Moldavia, placed within the escutcheon in the ornamental section at the beginning of the scroll. This book includes a full-color reproduction of this manuscript, along with a comprehensive discussion of the origin and significance of this unique piece of Jewish Art. The author, the late Cornelia Bodea, was one of Romania\u2019s most distinguished historians, a member of the Romanian Academy, and author of numerous books and articles.

Author Biography

Cornelia Bodea (1916-2010) was a renowned Romanian historian and a member of the Romanian Academy. She studied under the great Romanian historians Nicolae Iorga and Gheorghe I. Bratianu. She was a distinguished scholar focusing on modern history. Cornelia Bodea was the author of numerous books and articles on Romanian history and culture.