Image Details

Israel Museum, Jerusalem, The Feuchtwanger Collection of Judaica

Esther sets things in motion and then bows out in this version of her story, painted on glass and dated to 1893. At top left, she appears before her husband and king, Ahasuerus, who extends to her his scepter as he offers to grant her anything she wishes. At top right, Esther’s cousin Mordecai is paraded about on a horse by the king’s second-in-command, Haman, who blows on a trumpet and cries out, “Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honor!” (Esther 6:11).

In the middle register, Haman’s soldiers ride through the provinces spreading Haman’s decree to kill the Jews. At bottom, Haman is hanged by the king’s command while his ten sons wait their turn.

The Hebrew inscription above this last scene reads “As for the ten sons of Haman, may their name and their memory be blotted out.”