Summary
The Megillat Ester (Scroll of Esther) is a 141 cm long parchment, bearing the traditional Hebrew text from the biblical Book of Esther, framed by artistic color renderings of the story’s protagonists, locations and events.
The following description of the illustrations are adapted from the Center for Jewish Art's Bezalel Narkiss Index of Jewish Art and Material Culture online portal.
The scroll starts on the right-hand side with an enlarged word of the Megillah (ויהי) framed in an oval, flanked by stylized acanthus leaves. In the lower margin, below the first panel, the feast is represented. At the table men and women are sitting together, therefore possibly it illustrates two episodes - the feast of the king (Es. 1:3-8) and the feast of the queen (Es. 1:9). In the lower margin, below the second panel, the moment of the execution of Vashti is depicted (not mentioned in the text). The queen is kneeling on a pedestal and the executioner is just about to behead her with a sword. The scene is witnessed by three people who are standing on either side. In the spaces between the text panel standing figures of Ahasuerus, Mordecai, and Esther (from the right to the left) are depicted. The latter has a fashionable headdress and Mordecai is clothed in a long black coat with a white collar and big flat hat, a dress typical for Jews in the 17th and 18th centuries.
In the lower margin, below the third panel, Mordecai is depicted at the palace gate (Es. 2:19 and/or Es. 2:21). In the background several buildings are visible. In the lower margin, below panel no. 4, the marriage of Ahasuerus and Esther is depicted (not mentioned in the text). In the space between text panels nos. 3 and 4, a standing figure of Esther is shown; she has a fashionable headdress. The next two spaces are filled with an ornament.
In the lower margin, below panel no. 5, the king is seated at the table with an open book in front of him, reading the empire's chronicles (Es. 6:1-3). In the lower margin, below panel no. 6, possibly the second banquet of the queen Esther is depicted (Es. 7:1). At the table, three figures are visible who are the royal couple and Haman. In the spaces between text panels, there are (from the right to the left): an ornament, Haman, and Ahasuerus.
In the lower margin, below panel no. 7, Mordecai's triumph (Es. 6:11) supplemented with the scene that shows Haman's daughter who, from a window above, empties a chamber pot on her father's head (based on Megillah 16a). In the lower margin, below panel no. 8, Haman is begging Esther for mercy (Es. 7:8). In the spaces between text panels, there are (from the right to the left) the king reading the empire's chronicles (Es. 6:1-3) and ornaments.
In the lower margin, below panel no. 9, four figures are depicted. The scene represents one of the fights between the Jews and their enemies but it is difficult to determine which particular verse of the Megillah is illustrated here (Es. 9:5-12). In the lower margin, below panel no. 10, is depicted a group of men and women who are looking at the gallows with the bodies of Haman's ten sons (Es. 9:14) which is incorporated into the text column above. In the spaces between text panels, there are (from the right to the left) ornament and figures of standing Jews in the clothing typical for the 17th and 18th centuries; one of them can represent Mordecai.
In the lower margin, below panel no. 11, a man holding something (a goblet?) in his hands, possibly to represent delivering Purim gifts (alludes to Es. 9:22). In the lower margin, below panel no. 10, two people seated at the table are depicted; they are Esther and Mordecai writing the Purim letter (Es. 9:29). In the spaces between text panels, there are (from the right to the left) a standing Jewish figure in the clothing typical for the 17th and 18th centuries (Mordecai?) and ornaments.
