Portrait of the Nodah B'Yehuda, R. Yechezkel Segal. [Alsace, 19th century].
Ink and watercolor on paper.
High-quality portrait, in bright colors, of R. Yechezkel Landau Segal, author of Nodah B'Yehuda, Rabbi of Prague and prominent posek of the 18th century.
Titled in Hebrew: "Portrait of the great Torah genius the sage who contains all wisdom and knowledge whose name is famous the Nodah B'Yehuda…R. Yechezkel Landau Segal Rabbi of Prague"; and in French: "E. (?) Landau, Grand Rabbin et Proffesseur a Prague".
Apparently, this portrait is part of a series of portraits of rabbis made in Alsace in the mid-18th century (perhaps some decades previously).
23X31.5 cm. Fair condition. Several pinholes on the portrait itself. Stains, pinholes and tears to paper sheet (around the portrait), affecting text. Placed in contemporary frame, 29.5X38 cm.
For more information, see:
1. Les Juifs et la Lorraine, Un mill?naire d'histoire partag?e, Sous la direction de Claire Decomps et ?ric Moinet, France, 2009, Item 93, p. 204.
2. Alsatian Jewry: a Rural Community Between Tradition and Emancipation, editor: Esther Muchawsky-Schnapper, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1991, Item 9.