A “megillah” is a scroll; the Megillah is the scroll containing the text of the biblical Book of Esther, which is read publicly each year on the holiday of Purim. 

Although the Rabbis prohibited the decoration of Torah scrolls because they contain the name of God, artistic embellishment of Esther scrolls was permitted as the text does not include the Divine name. The earliest decorated scrolls of Esther date to the mid-16th century, and the custom of elaborately decorating these scrolls flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly in Italy. This scroll is a wonderful example of that development. Putti recline on the upper balustrade throughout the megillah, the columns of text are framed by elaborate architectural columns, like those that could be seen in Italian cathedrals, and the story recounted in each column is illustrated in the spaces at the bottom of each.  But particularly surprising is the image of the nude torso of a woman at the beginning of the megillah. What is such an image doing in a sacred text that will be used for religious purposes? Quite simply, the Jews who produced and used this scroll were culturally good Italians. They therefore decorated their important objects in the same fashion as did their Christian neighbors