Portrait of Rabbi Yitzchak Seckel Aryeh Loeb Wormser – Ba'al Shem of Michelstadt

Portrait of Rabbi Yitzchak Seckel Aryeh Loeb Wormser (Zekil Loeb Wormser) – the Ba'al Shem of Michelstadt. Pencil/graphite on paper, [Germany? second half of 19th century].
A fine portrait, hand drawn on paper. Below the portrait appears the inscription: "…face of…Zekil Leib of Michelstadt" (handwritten).
Rabbi Zekil Loeb Wormser (1768-1847), of Luria Ashkenazi family, descendant of the Maharsha"l and the Ariz"l. According to the legend he was born following a revelation of Elijah that his father experienced. As a young child he was known already as a genius, studied with his father and in his town. Founded a Yeshivah which he headed in Michelstadt. He was often approached with requests for prayers by foremost rabbis of his generation amongst them the Hatam Sofer and Chidushei Hari"m. On Rosh Hashanah 1847 he prepared his disciples for his death, and died on the following day, the Fast of Gedalya. In 1940 the Nazis destroyed his tombstone and in 1947 his great grandson, Peretz Dreyfus, rebuilt it.
Length: 31.5 cm, width: 25 cm. Fair-poor condition. Tears and holes, spots and folding marks.