Auction 101 Part 1 Special Auction: Ketubot | Megillot | Haggadot | Books | Jewish Ceremonial Art
Large Print – Hand-Colored Woodcut Depicting the Holy Sites and Gravesites of Tzaddikim in Eretz Israel – Italy, 17th Century – Undocumented
Opening: $10,000
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000
Sold for: $50,000
Including buyer's premium
"Igeret Mesaperet Yichusta DeTzadikaya DeAr'a Kadisha DeYisrael", letter on the attribution of Tzaddikim of Eretz Israel, Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias. Hand-colored woodcut, integrated with titles and handwritten captions. Place and year of printing not indicated, [Italy, ca. 17th century]. Ink and paint on paper.
Large plaque depicting some 50 cities, sites, monuments and figurative scenes from Eretz Israel, printed as a map-like woodcut, arranged in groups within rectangular and square frames, along with handwritten captions, descriptions and explanations (the titles are in square script; the descriptions are in cursive Italian Hebrew script).
The title appearing at the top of the leaf "Zot Igeret Mesaperet Yichusta DeTzadikaya DeAr'a Kadisha DeYisrael" (this is a letter recounting the attribution of Tzaddikim of the Holy Land of Israel…), indicates a relation between this print and a prose work by the same name, first printed in Venice, 1626.
The plaque depicts Kiryat Arba / Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramah, Safed, Tiberias and Haifa; the sites depicted include the tombs of the forefathers and foremothers in Hebron, the tombs of Joshua and Samuel, the Kidron Stream, the Red Sea, the tomb of Rachel, the Efrat and Jordan roads, and Batei Midrash, Torah schools and yeshivas in the various cities. Most of the plaque is dedicated to Jerusalem, and the largest illustration, appearing in the center, depicts the Dome of the Rock – "the gate of the place of the Temple", flanked on either side by the "Western Gate" and the "Gate of Mercy", towers, two lion heads (with long tongues resembling flames), surrounded by other sites: "the place of immersion of the high priest", "the Pool of Siloam" (depicted as a fountain), "Mount of Olives and the synagogue of David", the Western Wall, the Temple menorah, the Altar, "the place of the judges", the "guest house" Tower of David, "the pillar of the Sanhedrin of seventy", "the cedars of Lebanon planted by Solomon", and more. The depictions of Jerusalem also incorporate human figures and various scenes: the bringing of first fruits, the prophet Elijah at the gate of Jerusalem, a shofar blowing announcing the coming of the Messiah, the king's guards, the spies bearing a bunch of grapes, and two figures next to an Altar.
This print is not documented, and no other copies are known to us.
57X42.5 cm. Overall good condition. Old folding marks, slightly affecting text and illustrations, professionally restored. Old tears, mainly to margins, professionally restored. Stains. Pen inscriptions, apparently contemporary with printing, on verso, with the name: "Samuel Luzzatto".