Purim Fun: Why is There a Star in the Middle of the Scroll?

Misc. | March 17th, 2022 | Ezekiel

[Ezekiel]

Directional indicator.

Background:

The Messiah - Salabue Stradivarius of 1716 is a violin made by the Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona. It is considered to be the only Stradivarius in existence in as new state.^[1] It is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England.

The violin, known as the Messiah (Messie in French), remained in Stradivari's workshop until his death in 1737. It was then sold by his son Paolo to Count Cozio di Salabue in 1775, and for a time, the violin bore the name Salabue. The instrument was then purchased by Luigi Tarisio in 1827. Upon Tarisio’s death, in 1854, the French luthier Jean Baptiste Vuillaume of Paris purchased The Messiah along with Tarisio's entire collection.

"One day Tarisio was discoursing with Vuillaume on the merits of this unknown and marvelous instrument, when the violinist Jean-Delphin Alard, Vuillaume's son-in-law, exclaimed: 'Really, Mister Tarisio, your violin is like the Messiah of the Jews: one always expects him but he never appears' ('Vraiment, Monsieur Tarisio, votre violon est comme le Messie des Juifs: on l'attend toujours, mais il ne paraît jamais' ^[2]). Thus the violin was titled with the name by which it is still known." LINK

The Messiah Stradivarius violin by Antonio Stradivari,
on display at the Ashmolean museum,
room 39, inv. no. WA1940.112

Count Cozio's notes: "Printed label with seal as above: anno 1716 (716 is handwritten). Round, beautiful, strong, and even voice. Description: larger model. Intact. Strong red varnish going towards pastel. Very fine work in all its parts with excellent purfling. Top and back have medium arching and well leveled at the edges. The top has straight medium even grain.

The maker put in a patch above the sound post for reinforcement. Two-piece back with pronounced wide grain. The joint does not follow the grain, which opens upwards. The button is two-thirds of a circle. Sides and neck are made of the same good wood. G. B. Guadagnini raised the neck angle and put on a fingerboard. He also put in a large squared patch above the sound post to reinforce a hard-to-see crack. The scroll is of good work with a black outline as usual. It is worth at least 150 zecchini." (p.219)

Memoirs of a Violin Collector: Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio di Salabue, Memoirs of a Violin Collector: Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio di Salabue, Baltimore

>>>

Indeed, we do not have to look far to find imperfections. . . The scroll is oddly unmatched to the rest of the instrument, if we take the 'G' marking in the pegbox at face value. . .

The star is one of the oddest things about the violin. It sits, accurately placed, in the centre of the bass-side eye, under the varnish, and matched by two similar imprints on the fron face of the pegbox mortice. It is very similar to the star brands seen on two of the Stradivari moulds, the 'G' and 'B', although never having had the opportunity to place the 'Messiah' directly beside the moulds, it is impossible to say that they are precisely the same. I know of no other instrument that has this mark on the scroll, or anywhere else for that matter. . .*

The suggestion by conspiracy theorists that the odd qualities of the 'Messiah' betray the violin as a fake are fairly easy to dsimiss. Whoever had the skill to make such a fine replica of a Stradivari would surely not have built into it such unprecedented eccentricities. . .

The truth is, we don't know enough. The 'Messiah' is an enigma. . ."

The 'Messiah' Stradivari Violin, John Dilworth, The Strad, March, 2011, London

Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1716, the 'Messiah, Messie, Salabue' Violin: 40111

 

* There is another scroll with a star, on the 'Pingrille' (1713). The scroll, however, was the work of Simone Saccone (1895-1973), "who studied fellow luthier Antonio Stradivari extensively during his lifetime".

Saccone is a surname that points back to Jews and Isaac.

***

The name Esther means "star" and also "hidden" (hester). Queen Esther is the star of the Book of Esther, which is commonly known as The Megillah, literally "the scroll". The star of the show... center stage.

Here is a close-up of the star that appears in the center of the scroll of the Messiah (click for higher resolution):

This photo and many more close-ups here:

Violin by Stradivari, Cremona, 1716 (Messiah)

***

The scroll is oddly unmatched to the rest of the instrument, just as

The Megillah is the only book in the whole of Scripture, which does not contain G-d's name. Not once is G-d mentioned in all of its ten chapters. The miracle of Purim was a hidden one.

But whoever knows how to read between the lines will see the Hand of G-d in the story. With a little bit of analysis, the story begins to unfold and almost ... read itself:

The Megillah Story

As such,

The star of the Messiah is located on the side of "the scroll" with the tuning pegs for strings G - D, the letters/strings/notes ordered from left to right, as English:

Note	G	D	A	E
Name	Sol	Re	La	Mi
Hz	196	294	440	660

The Hertz of G-D, as related to the Messiah:
From Tzion [מציון, 196], the City of David [עיר דוד, 294].
196 + 294 = 490 (בית לחם, Bethlehem).
To make an acronym:

מצע"ד

Which is the word מצעד

(mits'ad) m -- March (political rally or parade)

This kinnor, the "national instrument of the Jewish People" is known as the Messiah, and is imprinted with a star ("Esther") on its scroll.

On that note,

The famous "star prophecy" of the Messiah is located in the Book of Numbers, in Parshat Balak, "when Balak, the king of Moab, summons the prophet Balaam to curse the people of Israel." This year, the reading falls on the 17th of Tammuz (which was America's birthday in 1776, Hebrew year 5-536)

Tammuz 17, 5782 July 16, 2022

July 16th, written as 7/16, rolls back to the initial decription of the Messiah from Count Cozio's notes:

"Printed label with seal as above: anno 1716 (716 is handwritten). Round, beautiful, strong, and even voice." Description: larger model. Intact.

Seals.The Song of Songs is another book without God's name, but then again there is a question revolving around verse 8.6. The subject is beyond the scope of the topic, but here is the verse:

Songs 8.6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as Sheol; its coals are coals of fire, which has a most vehement flame:

Stradivarius: (figuratively) A name invoked as a standard of excellence in unrelated fields.

Esther became queen in the place of Vashti, and

Vashti [ושתי] = 716

🎉 HAPPY PURIM! 🥳

[Red Badger]

Maybe he was a Dallas Cowboys fan?..............

[Ezekiel]

Further related:

"Moshiach's Torah Scroll" completed (1970)

The writing of the "Sefer Torah to greet Moshiach," initiated at the behest of the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, in 1942, was concluded 28 years later at a special gathering convened by the Lubavitcher Rebbe on Friday afternoon, the 9th of Shevat, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak's passing.

Friday, January 16, 1970

Scroll to the End of Exile

[Ezekiel]

Maybe he was a Dallas Cowboys fan?..............

Or a fan of endurance:

[Ezekiel]

As long as I'm in a play group of one, I am free to wander the grounds and examine the design of the most valuable kinnor, the Messiah with the star in the center of the scroll, the star on the side of G-D...

SOL RE LA MI
--->
ISRAEL OL_M

Which indicates to me that it's truly time to buy a vowel because... Esther:

Therefore, since she is like the ground of the universe, she does not become unclean in her place and anyone who removes anything from her is liable, according to the opinion of the House of Shammai, who said: "A beehive is like the ground" (qarqa' 'olam), and Esther is a beehive to sting Haman and his seed. . . . And according to the context of Scripture (pishtan shel devarim), she was taken completely by force. . . and she went before Ahasuerus to deliver herself for the sake of her flock. . . and saving a life overrides every other consideration.

This is what is meant by "Esther was like the ground," since Israel was called earth and ground and possession, as it is written,"for you shall be the most desired of lands" (Mal 3:12).

Therefore the sages said: "Generations come and go" (Eccl 1:4) -- this refers to the Gentiles; "but the earth remains forever" (ibid.) -- this is Israel. Therefore this is what they were referring to when they said that Esther was like the ground. Since she was the ground of the universe, the universe (i.e. Israel, 'olam), would stay forever, protected by Esther.

Esther in Medieval Garb: Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Esther in the Middle Ages, pg. 40

Sol [סול] + Re [רה] (G-D) alludes to the light as a ray of sunlight, whose sum is 301, fire [אש]. For starters.

Rolling along, what *is* the game famous for "buying vowels"?

Wheel of Fortune:

Wheel of Fortune (often known simply as Wheel^[a]) is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin that debuted in 1975. The show features a competition in which contestants solve word puzzles, similar to those used in hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a giant carnival wheel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_Fortune_(American_game_show)

Eh? Based on Hangman, and -- Lucky! -- the required vowel rolled right in with the footnote, which generates an informational blurb by hovering over it:

"The simplified title is often used by host Pat Sajak on-air and has been used instead of the full title in numerous promotional materials for the show."

The funny thing is that I only infrequently watched the show, and that was decades ago. Even though it's iconic and everyone knows Pat Sajak for being the host, I've always remembered him from beforetime, when he was the weatherman at Channel 4 (NBC in LA). Spin the wheel, the 4 winds of heaven, NES W:

Compass Rose

"Rose of the Winds"
Shoshanat haRuchot:

שושנת הרוחות

Look how that just rolled right back on its own to the first line of the thread: Directional indicator.

And even to Comment 4, which is the photo of the star of Endurance, the North Star.

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

To paraphrase Maria,

Sol-Re-La-Mi and so on are only the tools we use to build a song. Once you have them in your head you can sing different tunes, by mixing them up. Like this.

[dfwgator]

Do the stuff that buys me beer
Ray the guy who sells me beer
Me the guy who drinks the beer
Fa the distance to my beer

So I think I’ll have a beer
La la la la la la beer
Ti no thanks I’m drinking beer

That will lead us back to *sees empty glass* D’OH!

[Ezekiel]

;)

That’s funny too because between my comment and yours, I saw a doe with her little dolly, wandering through.

The wildlife just keep rolling in, like they’re on a grub crawl.

[dfwgator]

Oh see the deer, has the deer a little doe?

Why soitenly, two bucks! *slap*

[Ezekiel]

Oh my, were they supposed to be bred for laughs?

Must be Polish then.

Sing it, Bobby!

[NetAddicted]

Read later.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Ezekiel; I suspect that the Luthier (Stradivarius) had a jig with a specialty clamp whose small round jaws clamped down on what would be the center of the scroll and probably had a second clamp for the neck. The scroll clamp may have had something like a hatch pattern on jaw of the clamp an this would be responsible for the star pattern.

My thought is that Stradivarius would start with a block of maple wider than the finished scroll. This might be deliberate to allow him to go back and clean up the damage done by the clamp jaws later. The Luthier would clamp down on the center of the scroll and he would fashion out the scroll using the gouge. I suspect that once this was complete he would normally cut away the the "ears" projecting out from the center of the scroll, but in this case, the block he was working from was narrower and he could not remove any more wood without damaging the finished scroll.

See:

Fine Woodworking

See page 41. Note that there is a pinhold in the center of the scroll. Here he probably also had a clamp or a jig with the pin in the jaw face to keep the scroll centered while he worked with a gouge. (Or, it held it in place while a duplicarver machined a rough copy of the scroll that would later be cleaned up by hand.)

Since this involves "The Messiah" and a star....

"O gracious Light, pure brightness of the ever living Father in heaven, O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed! Now as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the vesper light, we sing your praises O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices, O Son of God, O Giver of life, and to be glorified through all the worlds." Anglican book of Common Prayer

And of course return to the Old Testament:

"Seek him that made the Pleiades and Orion, that turneth deep darkness into the morning, and darkeneth the day into night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his Name. Amos 5:8"

Wishing you a good and peaceful night!

(The horsehead nebula in Orion is of course, a center for star creation; A Psalm with an old Testament description of the water cycle! Nifty!)

[Campion]

So, I hate to tell you this, but ...

The standard of 440 Hz for A didn't formally become an international standard until the 1970's. It became widely accepted in the US in the 1920s and 1930s. It is not used everywhere to this day. Trying to relate it to gematria is pretty much a classic anachronism.

Solfege originates from the initial syllables of the (Latin) office hymn for the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, "Ut Queant Laxis". (Executive summary: it's Catholic. Very Catholic.) "Re" comes from the Latin word "resonare". "Sol" comes from the Latin word "Solve". Neither has anything to do with "rays," or the sun (pace Rodgers and Hammerstein).

[Ezekiel]

So, I hate to tell you this, but ...

Okay.

"Anachronism". That's one of those things that causes major blockages in the information flow. Human reasoning is trapped in time!

I post what simply sits there, in the time of the living (the present). The literal history is already what it is. Knowing the source for the solfege system is Wikipedia link-click 101.

I find the best stuff because I don't let people tell me what I am supposed to un-see because "everybody knows that...", or "this has nothing to do with..." or whatever is the can't-do conformity special of the day.

This Messiah is actually a real tell-all book, but who's looking there because people can think up all kinds of reasons to not look at most anything.

It's a "row well and live" kind of world out there for the most part.

SouthernClaire asked not long ago,

Got anything on 153?

Here's one:

SINE METU, the motto of the Jameson family ("son of Jacob"). It's right on the labels.

"Without fear", in Hebrew: l'lo pachad [ללא פחד] = 153

Must be the "luck" o' the Irish everyone wonders about.

Heh, so I'll just keep going. Great views!

[Campion]

That's one of those things that causes major blockages in the information flow. Human reasoning is trapped in time!

Yeah, we call that "cause and effect". It's kind of an important aspect of thinking clearly.

[Ezekiel]

Thank you for the interesting link and for taking the time to read and respond.

The enigma with the Messiah is that the people in this business don't even know what or why the star imprints are there, and that no other instrument has them, except as I noted on the 'Pingrille' that had been a later detail from Sacconi's work.

You'd think that if he (Sacconi) left a tool mark artifact from his carvings, everyone else would know what was the source of the original marking on the Messiah.

There is also the matter of the two other star marks within the pegbox itself.

2016:

The 300th anniversary of Stradivari’s 1716 ‘Messiah’ violin was very appropriately celebrated in the city of its birth. The instrument, which has not left England since 1890 and has been in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford since 1939, has finally been allowed to go home. It was the first opportunity for the collected experts of Italy and beyond to subject it to the battery of modern scientific analysis.

The results of all the various forms of scanning, microscopy and wood examination were formally presented on 9 October at the ‘Messiah Study Day’ in Cremona.

>>>

The UV signature of classical Cremonese varnish is certainly distinctive and, it would seem, not generally replicated. But there was a little debate left to run; one of the strange distinctions of the ‘Messiah’ is the presence of small star imprints on the bass eye of the scroll and within the pegbox.

In my presentation, I gave the opinion that these imprints are the same as those seen on some of the Stradivari moulds, and are beneath the varnish on the scroll, thus providing a strong linkage between the violin and the original moulds in Stradivari’s workshop.

Unfortunately Cacciatori’s UV examination brought him to the conclusion that the impression was made over the varnish, meaning that it was done later, and thus possibly by anyone who had access to both the violin and the forms. Was our good friend Cozio interfering again?

But Brigitte lobbed the ball back over the net, explaining how her interpretation of the UV analysis led her to believe the impression was indeed under the varnish, not over it, and made while the violin was ‘in the white’.

This could be a long game. It leaves us with the useful warning that not every bit of laboratory evidence is conclusive, but the accumulated effect of all the fascinating work that has been done in Cremona provides us with more insight into the master’s techniques, and confirms the authenticity and artistic value of the great Stradivari we call the ‘Messiah’.

And this was an historic occasion in many more ways than one, in which the city of Cremona re-established its deep and abiding relationship with one of its most famous children.

https://www.thestrad.com/postcard-from-cremona-messiah-study-day-2016/4387.article

>>>

From the page I linked in the original post, this photo appears to show the stars within the pegbox (click to enlarge):

Between the left two strings, and also between the right two strings.

It's a "read between the lines" sort of thing. :)

I thought this was funny wording:

‘Messiah Study Day’ (Oct 9, 2016), and

the city of Cremona re-established its deep and abiding relationship with one of its most famous children

Stradivari, or the Messiah? :)

Actually for the "study day" part I went to check the Jewish Torah reading (Chumash) for that day. Messiah, after all.

Chumash -- Parshat Ha'azinu, 1st Portion (Deuteronomy 32:1-32:6)

Excellent. Lots of unusual things going on there.

The Ha'azinu portion has its own special two-column formatting, verse 5 is an odd one with much debate over how to translate, and the first letter of verse 6 is a texual oddity: an enlarged hei that is set apart as if it were a separate word.

Plus there's something else that fits with the topic at hand but is beyond the scope of this post. I thank these fine folks in Cremona for unknowingly linking that place in the Torah to information already known about the Messiah.

[Ezekiel]

Yeah, we call that "cause and effect". It's kind of an important aspect of thinking clearly.

It's like the verse that was used in part for "Little Miss Nobody's" gravestone:

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Now that everyone knows her identity (Sharon, who was 4 YO), the rest of the verse can be filled in.

Great timing for a comment about "cause and effect" and "thinking clearly"!

The underlying meaning of v’nahafoch hu is that what initially is perceived as a cause is really an effect, and what seems to be an effect is really the cause...

🥳 Purim: V’nahafoch Hu

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Ezekiel; Thank you for posting!

The violin; I see the stars at the bottom of the peg box right at the top of the neck.

I think that it may have been from some form of clamping jig that was made in the shop and used to hold the neck steady while the Scroll carving was completed.

The morning star and the evening star, (Hesper or Vesperus, and Phosporous, the same star! ) bright upper tones for the morning, lower for the evening? (I do not think that is what the craftsman was thinking. I am just thinking that as I look at it.)

The bass Star on the scroll... I will go with under the varnish. Note that if you have crushed wood while clamping,, you can put some water on the crushed area to raise it. To raise it completely take a soldering iron and touch it briefly just at the wet surface and the steam will raise the grain and cause it to swell. Dry it and you can take a scraper and clean up resulting surface to smooth it. The outline of the mark would still appear. With time and even after varnish, it might shrink and become more evident. That may have been what happened. (Not a Luthier, my father was a carpenter, I did cabinetry in my early life before college. ) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Selling on Amazon. Supposed to be hand carved, but looks like mass produced scroll and neck. Note the clamp/machining mark at the base of the scroll on the underside of the neck. Not a great looking piece of maple appears to have some defects. Still, if mass production gets a violin into the hands of a child who would not otherwise have had one because its affordable it is a starting place! Even a mass produced violin can make song.

Deuteronomy 32:5, 6 The Song of Moses;

5“[b]They have acted corruptly against Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
But are a perverse and crooked generation.
6“Is this what you do to the LORD,
You foolish and unwise people?
Is He not your Father who has purchased you?
He has made you and established you. "

Even with their defects Moses Prayed for them and God listened to his prayer!

[Ezekiel]

The morning star and the evening star, (Hesper or Vesperus, and Phosporous, the same star! ) bright upper tones for the morning, lower for the evening? (I do not think that is what the craftsman was thinking. I am just thinking that as I look at it.)

Thank you!!!!

See, this is exactly what I'm talking about. This adventure is not about making, forcing, or deciding any meaning (interpretations belong to God)... it's the simple observations arising from a sincere heart.

Even if the craftsman had that in mind, Stradivari could not have intentionally made meanings that are Messianic... the name didn't come til Luigi Tarisio owned it (from 1827 - 1854), and when Delphin Alard (whose comment resulted in the naming) was old enough to be at Tarisio's house with his FIL (Vuillaume). Alard was born in 1815.

Oh, there's probably a date out there, I'm just going by the chart for the provenance since I had that page linked in the original post. Stradivari died in Dec. 1737.

Were you aware that the morning star is associated with Esther? She's called the doe of the dawn, Ayelet Hashachar. If fact, Psalm 22 is a feature of Purim traditions. Here's an example.

The Jewish tradition is that King David prophetically composed Psalm 22 for Esther, so she could be comforted by it while trapped in the palace isolated from her people.

The other day in the thread(s) about "Little Miss Nobody" (Sharon), coming just ahead of Purim... an unknown girl was identified after a 62-year mystery. Shades of Esther -- nobody knew who she was.

The connection was the "name" identity that had been on the gravestone all along, one "pure in heart". An innocent subjected to Lord only knows what horrors, for she died.

Esther's people. The pure in heart. It's a very simple meaning such that it stands on its own. The devious, who are not pure in heart: Haman & Sons.

Psalm 22:1-4

1. To the chief Musician, according to Ayeleth HaShahar, a Psalm of David:
2. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my loud complaint:
3. O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear; and in the night, and I have no rest:
4. But you are holy, O you who are enthroned on the praises of Israel...

***

Using your analogy, all the stars could be Esther.

There are three of them, and they are in close proximity. One on the outside in the center of the scroll, two on the inside, in their positions.

You've really given direction to the next level, thanks again.

Oh and here's this fun item to toss in the mix:

ESTHER <----> THREES

:)

[Ezekiel]

Still, if mass production gets a violin into the hands of a child who would not otherwise have had one because its affordable it is a starting place! Even a mass produced violin can make song.

The Messiah was bequeathed by the family of W.E. Hill to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for preservation as "a yardstick for future violin makers to learn from".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_Stradivarius

I find an interesting analog from Toy Story. Stinky Pete wanted to drag everyone to the new digs at the Konishi toy museum, where they could sit behind glass and be admired for generations. Stinky Pete hated kids because he was never sold, so for him it was great. Of course the others realized that they'd be stuck looking out at kids who couldn't touch them. No fun, no love. A real dead zone.

But really, the same would apply to the children, who would walk though a place filled with toys, but none for to touch or cuddle. Look, but don't beep, bop, or bounce. A real dead zone.

"The Messiah - Salabue Stradivarius of 1716 is a violin made by the Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari of Cremona. It is considered to be the only Stradivarius in existence in as new state:"

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
BREAK GLASS

Orange Blossom Special _-- Don Rich and Bob Morris (at min 9:10)

Maria. . . brought music back into the house. The Captain had forgotten.

Presenting the Messiah is the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, named for Elias Ashmole. The museum was built to house Elias' cabinet of curiosities.

Isaiah 40:3
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Ah shucks, Stinky Pete ended up with Aimee; "Shes an Artist!" In the end he got off the dusty shelf and into the playroom!

While it was meant to be played, its not bad to have a good copy of an intact Stradivarius somewhere! (Yet even it will return to dust someday!)
Scientists look at alternatives to the mass of platinum used as international standard measure, which has lost 50 micrograms.

Isaiah 40:3
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Psalms 150:3-6
Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.