Two Monumental Decorated Confraternity Membership Plaques, [Mantua]: 1811 and 1854

Ink and gouache on paper (33 x 27 in.; 838 x 686 mm). Some marginal tears; losses, mostly not affecting text or decoration. Matted, glazed, and framed; not examined outside of the frames. 

While the Hevrah Kaddisha (Holy Society) of today is almost exclusively engaged in the rites and rituals surrounding death and burial, fraternal societies bearing that name in the early modern period assumed responsibility for a wide range of charitable works, including, but not limited to, supplying clothing and food to the Jewish poor and providing dowries for indigent brides. The elegantly decorated membership plaques of these two Mantuan confraternities, Hevrat Mattan Betulot (Society for Dowering Brides) and Hevrat So‘ed Halashim (Society for Supporting the Weak), served to honor those in the community who dedicated themselves to these good works. Only a few rare examples of these Holy Society membership plaques remain extant.

Literature

Daniela di Castro, Treasures of the Jewish Museum of Rome: Guide to the Museum and Its Collection (Rome: Museo Ebraico di Roma, 2010), 78.