According to the museum’s dedicated website, “the Umberto Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art was set up [in 1983] to collect, preserve and display objects pertaining to Jewish life in Italy from the Renaissance period through to the present time. This is the only museum that collects original artistic objects and documentation from all the Jewish communities throughout Italy.”
The museums collections span the centuries and consist of metalwork items, textiles, woodwork, various manuscripts and prints and miscellaneous artefacts.
Images: Hanging Hanukkah Lamp, 19th century, Italy, brass, cast.
Donated by the Alatri family, Rome.
Scroll of Esther, 18th century, Venice, Case: silver filigree partially gilded.
Scroll: parchment, 4 membranes, 14 text columns, 12×33 cm, turned silver roller, 5 cm diameter. Gift of Mrs. Zaban in memory of her parents, who were murdered in Auschwitz.
The Olivetti – Montefiore Torah Curtain (parokhet), 1620, Pesaro, gilt and silver thread embroidery on silk.
Circumcision Chair, 1845, Italy, carved wood and leather seat.
Ketubbah Marriage Contract, 1728, Leghorn, manuscript, ink and tempera on parchment.
Holy Ark, Mantua – Sermide, 1543, gilt and carved wood.
Torah Mantle, 17th century, Mantua, cotton velvet, silk fabric, silver, gilded thread embroidery.
Holy Ark, 1701, Conegliano Veneto, gilt and carved wood.
Posted by Samantha Hughes-johnson.