Die Stadt Ierusalem, wie darinnen von den Iuden das Lauberhütten Fest gehalten worden / La Ville de Jerusalem, comme les Juifs y tenoient tous les ans la Fete des Tabernacles [The City of Jerusalem, as the Sukkot Festival was Celebrated There by the Jews], hand-colored engraving. [Augsburg, second half of the 18th century]. German and French.
A fine engraving depicting a central boulevard in Jerusalem during the Sukkot festival. The boulevard is laden with holiday celebrators, sitting in Sukkot that are placed along the boulevard and on the rooftops, and walking amongst them. Seen in the front are musicians and workers building a wooden Sukkah.
This engraving was published as part of a series (Collection des Prospects) that was printed in Augsburg in the second half of the 18th century. An inscription printed on the upper part of the sheet reads: "La Ville de Ierusalem" ("The city of Jerusalem", French) in mirror writing; and an inscription on the margins reads "The City of Jerusalem, as the Sukkot Festival was Celebrated There by the Jews" (German and French).
Engravings of this type were exhibited in a special "Raree Show" boxes (also known as Peep shows), with an optical mechanism that provided an illusion of depth (a kind of early three-dimensional experience). Such Raree Shows were popular in European bazars and markets in the 18-19 centuries.
Leaf: approx. 43.5X33 cm. Matted (with strips of tape). Good condition.