Salom Italia (also Salomo d'Italia) (ca. 1619, possibly

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

- ca. 1655, possibly

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

) was an Italian copper engraver who worked in Amsterdam. He became known particularly for his illustrations for the

Book of Esther The Book of Esther ( he, מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, Megillat Esther), also known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the wikt:מגילה, Megillah"), is a book in the third section (, "Writings") of the Judaism, Jewish ''Tanak ...

, which merged ideas about the

Jewish diaspora The Jewish diaspora ( he, תְּפוּצָה, təfūṣā) or exile (Hebrew: ; Yiddish: ) is the dispersion of Israelites or Jews out of their ancient ancestral homeland (the Land of Israel) and their subsequent settlement in other parts of t ...

with those of Dutch liberation after the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

Biography

Salom Italia was likely born ca. 1619 in

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, where his father Mordechai operated a printing house. Earlier suggestions, that he had been born in Castel Branco, were denied by Narkiss in 1957. Narkiss argues that he left Mantua after the Austrians invaded, and left for the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, and settled in Amsterdam at the latest in 1641, where he began work as an artist and where he likely worked until he died. He was one of only a few Jewish artists working in Amsterdam. Of the ten known works he signed, two are dated. Most of his copper engravings pertain to the

. He is known also for his portraits of the rabbis Jacob Judah Leon (1641, and another in 1647) and Menasse ben Israel (1642), and for the Jewish marriage contracts he illustrated.

Esther scrolls

Salom Italia - Esther Scroll - Google Art Project

In Amsterdam, Italia developed a new way of illustrating the parchment

scrolls A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyrus ...

that contained the

, scrolls which were used during

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Boo ...

—during those services, the text was read out loud, while congregants read along with their own copies. Italia's illustrations included

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...

es, portraits of the main characters, and narrative scenes and vignettes against the backdrop of Dutch landscapes. They merged the Jewish diaspora and Jews' integration in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

with the (recent) Dutch experience of liberation from their Spanish overlords after the

. Italia's scrolls were very popular at a time when the Esther story held considerable importance in the Netherlands; six of them were gathered for a 2011 exhibition in the

Joods Historisch Museum The (; en, Jewish Museum), part of the Jewish Cultural Quarter, is a museum in Amsterdam dedicated to Jewish history, culture and religion, in the Netherlands and worldwide. It is the only museum in the Netherlands dedicated to Jewish history. ...

in Amsterdam.

Gallery

File:Italia Jacob Judah Leon.jpg, Jacob Judah Leon File:Menasseh ben Israel 1642.jpg, Menasseh ben Israel

Literature

* M. Narkiss: ''The Oeuvre of the Jewish Engraver Salom Italia (1619–1655?).'' In: ''Tarbiz.'' 25, 1956, pp. 441–451; 26, 1957, pp. 87–101. * Salli Kirschenstein: ''Juedische Graphiker aus der Zeit von 1625–1825.'' Berlin 1918. * * * Sabar, Shalom. "A New Discovery: The Earliest Illustrated Esther Scroll by Shalom Italia," ''Ars Judaica'' 8 (2012), pp. 119-136.

References

External links

Salom Italia
articles at

Esther Rolle
im Jewish Museum New York.
Ketubba
im Israel Museum Jerusalem. {{DEFAULTSORT:Italia, Salom 17th-century Italian Jews 17th-century engravers Italian engravers Dutch Jews Engravers from Amsterdam Jewish engravers Jews and Judaism in Amsterdam Italian emigrants to the Netherlands 1619 births 1655 deaths Artists from Mantua