Ink, gouache, and shell gold on parchment (7 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.; 191 x 160 mm). Matted, glazed, and framed.

The Portuguese Jews of Amsterdam demonstrated their respect for the most distinguished members of their community by bestowing upon them honors during the holiday of Simhat Torah. This lavishly decorated plaque was created on October 3, 1755, only a few days after the festival had come to a close, in honor of Joseph Fernandes Nunes (1721-1788), who had been selected that year to serve as Hatan Bereshit (the person who commences the annual Torah-reading cycle anew). Nunes, a wealthy merchant, left a substantial sum in his will to establish a home for indigent Portuguese-Jewish women living in the community. The poem is penned in gold, and the text is surrounded by delicately-drawn flora topped with a jeweled crown inscribed with the words “Crown of the Law,” a visual reference to the honor Nunes had received. This is one of the only such congratulatory plaques to have survived.