Over two years ago in a previous blog post, we introduced you to the Rylands’ “fragile beauty”, a parchment cut-out Esther scroll (Hebrew MS 54). Since then, a lot has happened. We successfully applied for funding for the repair and digitisation of this stunning megillah. The project was supported by the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe, and thanks to them and our conservators Heather Garner and Zoë Lanceley, the megillah can be handled once again by caring hands. Our colleagues from the Imaging Studio were busy documenting both the process and the photographing the renewed scroll. To catch up on everything that’s happened during the project, follow #rylandsmegillah on social media!
Report from our conservators
When the scroll was rediscovered within the John Rylands Library in 2017, it was instantly recognised for its beauty. Consisting of a layer of heavily decorated cut parchment upon which the biblical Book of Esther is written, this lace-like parchment has then been adhered to what appears to have once been colourfully decorated paper, all backed by red silk fabric with a decorative braid around all edges. The elaborate structure appears to be something of a rarity amongst Esther scrolls; this being only one of four known “sibling” scrolls that have the layered textile, paper and cut parchment structure. The other scrolls consist of two layers only: parchment and textile. The Rylands scroll also appears to be the only one of the four to have pigment applied to the paper and on a small section of the parchment (though this is most likely a later addition).
Considering the rarity and beauty of the scroll, its condition was somewhat alarming upon initial assessment. The beginning of the scroll had extensive damage – possibly caused by exposure to water at some point in its history – resulting in severe discolouration of and losses to the parchment, paper and silk supports. In addition to this, the surface of the supports had accumulated many years of surface dirt that further discoloured the scroll. A quite heavy-handed historical repair attempted to stabilise some of this damage by applying glue and a substitute fabric to the back of the original silk, but all three of the original supports remained in an extremely fragile condition, making it inaccessible for consultation and display. It was this that prompted the Collection Care Team to undertake conservation treatment of the scroll to stabilise its condition, thus preserving it for the future.
After several months of extensive research into the materials and history of the scroll, a minimally interventive treatment plan was developed that would serve to prevent further damage from occurring while retaining the integrity of the scroll as a ritualistic object. To carry out this treatment plan, a Project Textile Conservator, Zoë Lanceley, was hired to conserve the silk support and decorative braid, while the paper and parchment elements were conserved by Conservator Heather Garner. This required a collaborative and cooperative approach with both conservators working in tandem to treat their respective materials and offered an opportunity to share knowledge across conservation specialisms.
The treatment itself started with dry surface cleaning using very gentle vacuum suction and sponges to remove dust and soiling. Multiple loose fragments of the paper and parchment supports were then removed and temporarily boxed to allow access to the silk for treatment. The red silk that runs along the back of the scroll is a very fine fabric, and due to its age and use it had begun to split and tear in some places, particularly where the previous repair had been applied with glue. These split areas were repaired using a very fine silk fabric dyed with conservation grade synthetic dyes to match the original perfectly. These patches were then adhered in position to provide support to the original silk and prevent the splits from spreading further. Broken threads of the decorative braid were held in place using almost invisible threads to prevent them from falling off in the future.
The parchment and paper fragments that were removed at the start of the treatment were then repaired with the intention of preventing further losses from occurring. This was achieved by local humidification to relax the fragments, followed by the repair of tears and breaks in the lace-like parchment using toned Japanese tissue and diluted wheat starch paste. The fragments were then adhered in their original positions to the silk, again, using Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste. The repairs on all three of the scroll supports are intentionally discreet so that they do not detract from the aesthetic beauty of the scroll, but they are all documented and remain visible upon close observation.
The completion of this conservation treatment has successfully halted further degradation of the scroll and has ensured that it can be consulted and admired for future generations.
(Conservators Heather Garner and Zoë Lanceley)
The photographers’ perspective
Our team photographed the Esther scroll prior to conservation work, during to show certain repaired areas and post conservation. Due to the fragility of the scroll, the project conservators supervised handling throughout the imaging process. We used leather and cotton weights to safely hold the area to be imaged open and flat.
Using a high-resolution camera (Phase One IQ4 digital back with 150 million pixel resolution, 120mm Schneider macro lens), we photographed the scroll in individual panels, numbering 24. Using photomerge software in Photoshop, we digitally stitched together the images to create a full image of the scroll, which was processed out with a resolution of 297,092,000 pixels, allowing the entire item to be viewed in high resolution in it’s entirety.
As well as standard imaging, we undertook multispectral imaging (MSI) of the scroll for investigatory analysis at the request of the Collection Care Team. The first four panels were captured with MSI prior to treatment, resulting in 29 monochrome images illuminated by specific wavelengths from 365nm (Ultraviolet) to 940nm (near Infrared). We also created further high-resolution RGB composite images from the MSI data enabling viewers to scrutinise the scroll in extremely close detail.
We also had external help with this project. Professor Andrew Beeby and Professor Richard Gameson from Team Pigment, Durham University visited us with their portable devices and carried out FORS (Fibre-optic reflectance spectroscopy) and Raman spectroscopy to identify specific pigments used in the production of the scroll. Based on their analysis, various pigments were identified with certainty: copper green, organic reds, and vermillion.
(Imaging manager Jamie Robinson)
This megillah is one of a kind and thanks to the one-year long conservation and digitisation project, it can now be seen and studied. Researchers of Jewish art and material culture are keen to examine its iconography and the way it was produced, and the digital images will make it much easier to compare it to its ‘three siblings’ in London, Amsterdam and Toronto.1 You will not have to wait for long to see it in the flesh either: we hope to exhibit the scroll in the Rylands’ new permanent exhibition opening in the spring of 2025.
Link to the digitised scroll: https://www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/MS-HEBREW-00054/1
Footnote
- London, Jewish Museum, JM 284; Amsterdam, Joods Historisch Museum MB02541; and Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (previously Beth Tzedec Museum, Toronto, Cat. 532.) ↩︎
The author appears to be unaware that it is customary to fold the scroll when it is recited aloud on Purim and not merely unwound. That accounts for the folds the conservators encountered. Also, the textile backing is not unusual as it mimics the use of the so-called “mappa,” which is a textile wrapping for a Torah scroll in the Italian tradition.
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