EXHIBITIONS – “Beautiful Esther” extended, film festival kicks off
The National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah (MEIS) in Ferrara has extended until July 20 the exhibition Beautiful Esther. Purim, a timeless story, which explores this festival’s rituals, arts and cultural interpretations. The show, curated by the director of the Museum, Rabbi Amedeo Spagnoletto, Olga Melasecchi and Marina Caffiero, opened on March 12 and has been very successful, attracting many visitors. The exhibition, which is dedicated to Esther – the young Jewish queen who saved her people from annihilation and is celebrated at Purim – will be in dialogue with the summer program. Starting in July, the MEIS garden will host a series of seven films dedicated to queens.
The exhibition features unique pieces including Renaissance masterpieces such as Esther before Ahasuerus (1475-1480 c.) by Jacopo del Sellaio, Queen Vashti leaving the Royal Palace (1475 c.) by Filippino Lippi, and contemporary works of Tobia Ravà’s. There is also an outstanding selection of Megillot – the illuminated scrolls of the Book of Esther– including the extremely rare 17th century Megillah by Shalom Italia, partly printed and partly illuminated, or the parchment scroll made in Ferrara by Moshe Ben Avraham Pescarol in the 17th century. Visitors can also enjoy period photographs and ritual objectsthat tell the story ofPurim and bear witness to real lives in the communities of their time.