Torah Finials

In the Cathedral of Palma de Majorca rest the oldest known pair of Torah finials, their possession by the church a vivid reminder of the Expulsion of the Jews from Spanish and Portuguese territories in the 1490s.
The earliest finials date to the fifteenth century. Some aspects of their decoration, like the horseshoe arches, are local features that recall the age of Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula and the hybrid Mudejar art that developed as a result. Viewed from the perspective of later Judaica the most significant feature of the rimmonim is their tower form, clear evidence of a Spanish tradition underlying the appearance of the same type in centers to which the Sephardim fled after the Expulsion. Italy was one of these centers. In the sixteenth century, its ancient Jewish community was revitalized by the arrival of Sephardic Jews, who brought with them traditions of intellectual and cultural achievement, as well as unique literary and artistic genres. Secular and religious Hebrew poetry and the illumination of marriage contracts were part of the Sephardic artistic tradition, as was tower-form metalwork for both synagogues and home use. Another Spanish usage transferred by Sephardic Jews to their new homes was the custom of decorating the corners of the reader's desk in the synagogue with finials similar to those used to ornament the staves of Torah scrolls. The large size of these finials and their very heavy weight suggest that they were used on a reader's desk rather than on a Torah.
The body of each rimmonim is a three-storied hexagonal tower. Torus moldings mark the base and entablature of each story, and spiral pilasters are set on every corner. A balustrade runs in front of each story; its corners support urns of flowers set on scroll-shaped bases. The result is a complex architectural form that projects forward in space on several levels. The basic form is, however, obscured by urns filled with cast flowers and other applied ornaments that fill the arches, hide the balustrade, and overlay the spiral pilasters. The largest urn and flower ensemble serves as a finial.
The blurred outline that results, the obscuring of the boundaries of the object, and the richness of ornament find parallels in other Italian Baroque metalwork. A pair of lavish multistoried candlesticks made in Rome in the mid-eighteenth century show these same characteristics as well as three-dimensional floral elements and clipeus motifs found on these rimmonim.