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The portrait is enclosed within an illustrated round frame supported by three books. Under the portrait is the inscription: "Depiction of the splendid countenance of the sage… R. Moses Nasch Rabbi of Zwolle and the region".

R. Moses ben Joel Nasch (alternatively, MiNasch) served for some thirty years as posek in Nijkerk, Gelderland. In 1802, he was appointed as Rabbi of Zwolle, Overijssel. He passed away in Elul 1807. In the introduction to his book, Yismach Moshe (Leiden, 1771), he recounts his life story in flowery Hebrew, stating that as a young man, he wandered from one city to the next, sermonizing to the Jewish public at large, "showing the people the path to teshuvah, and instructing them on how to mend their ways". At one point in time, he fell victim to false charges and was consequently imprisoned by the authorities, but was released thanks to petitions delivered on his behalf by R. Saul Rabbi of Amsterdam, and his brother-in-law, R. Saul HaLevi Rabbi of The Hague. Following his marriage, after receiving rabbinical ordination from R. Saul of Amsterdam, he was appointed as posek in Nijkerk. Toward the end of his life, he served as Rabbi of Zwolle. In addition to Yismach Moshe, he published a prayer order – entitled "Mizmor Shir Chanukat HaBayit" (Amsterdam, 1801) – on the occasion of the inauguration of the synagogue in Nijkerk.

The three books pictured underneath the portrait represent the works of R. Moses Nasch: Yismach Moshe, VaYoel Moshe, and VaYaster Moshe; of the three, only Yismach Moshe (published, as previously stated, in 1771) is known to have survived. An engraving bearing an almost identical portrait of R. Moses Nasch was printed in the Netherlands in the early 19th century (the three books appear there with the aforementioned titles), and possibly, it was based upon the present oil painting.

See: M.H. Gans, Memorbook, p. 263 (engraving by A. Joëls of Zwolle). See also Kedem, Auction 95, Lot 363.

Provenance: Acquired in Amsterdam, Speyer Antiquariat, 1949.