Four Monumental Sukkah Panels Created in Honor of Aaron and Sarah Vigevani, Italy [ca. 1800]

4 panels (app. 29 1/2 x 20 1/2 in.; 750 x 520 mm). Brown ink on paper, watermarks of Andreoli brothers of Toscolano, Lombardy between 1791-1802; laid to size; each panel numbered in upper right corner. Some ink cracking on large letters of two panels; a few marginal tears and minor losses, expertly repaired. Hinged on four sides; matted.

These exquisite sukkah panels were created for Aaron and Sarah Vigevani, members of an aristocratic family from Northern Italy, whose names are included within Stars of David in the first two panels. The panels are the work of a highly talented artist whose skill as a draftsman is matched by his talent for figural representation. The imagery of the panels includes the traditional seven Ushpizin (guests) who are invited into the sukkah on successive nights of the Sukkot holiday by means of the poem inscribed within the central text of the first panel. Five of the invited guests, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and David, appear in this panel. The artist has elegantly balanced the images of the patriarchs by presenting three father-son pairs, stressing the familial bond between them. The central text of this panel contains a poem rendered in both Italian and Hebrew which casts a stern warning: "Why are you here, thieving man? Have you set your eyes on the fruit? Leave my sukkah quickly, before I strike your shoulder with my rod." Scholars have suggested that this poetic phrasing is amuletic in nature and intended to protect against evil.

The second panel depicts Adam and Eve, the archetypal husband and wife, as well as the final two Ushpizin, the siblings Moses and Aaron. The words of biblical verses and rabbinic dicta are intertwined within the frames in both panels one and two as well. The emphasis placed on the primary family relationships in these first two panels—spouses, siblings and parents—may support the conjecture that they may have been executed as a wedding present for the couple, and whose nuptials could have been celebrated on or near the Sukkot holiday. The subtle message accenting the importance of "Jewish family values" would certainly have been an appropriate theme to convey to newlyweds.

The text of the third panel welcomes all who enter the sukkah with the phrase "blessed are you in your coming and blessed are you in your going." Surrounding the text are representations of the "four species" whose use is biblically ordained for the holiday: palm, willow, myrtle and citron. The Vigevani coat of arms is depicted in a cartouche at the top of the panel.

In the fourth panel the artist has added a new and original twist to the tradition of the Ushpizin by extending an additional invitation to a group of four biblical and extra-biblical heroes and heroines. The central text panel boldly proclaims, "Come, blessed of God, Why do you stand outside"  The heroic figures include Joshua commanding the sun at Givon and Yael hammering her tent-peg into Sisera; a young David contemplates his victory over Goliath and Judith holds the recently severed head of Holofernes. Although the last image is not based on a biblical text, the story of Judith as well as its vivid imagery was particularly resonant with Italian Jewry.

By their very nature, sukkah decorations are ephemeral objects, usually made of paper and then left outdoors for over a week in conditions that, in many places in the Jewish world, frequently include wind and rain. These elaborately decorated sukkah panels, expertly drawn over two hundred years ago are among the very few surviving examples of this art-form. That these superb specimens were preserved despite the vicissitudes of both time and nature is a clear indication that they were highly prized by those fortunate enough to own them as well as an eloquent testament to the quality of their art.