A Decorated Marriage Contract, Ancona: 1766

Gouache and ink on parchment (26 x 19 ¾ in.; 660 x 505 mm). Lightly soiled with few creases, very minor losses to pigment; small hole in the last line of text touching two letters. Gilt wood frame with small loss to upper left corner and minor crack to glass.

Recording the marriage of Samuel Manoah son of Shabbetai Isaac Fiano and Rachel Mazel Tov daughter of Ishmael Mondolfo on Wednesday, 1 Tevet 5527 [= 3 December 1766].

This finely decorated marriage contract was created in the port city of Ancona, one of the most prolific centers of ketubbah decoration in Italy. It features an exquisite floral border of entwined vines and lushly painted flowers. Surmounting the text is an elaborate scrolled cartouche with the coat of arms of the Fiano family; a tree flanked by two rampant lions, all in gold. The ketubbah is further embellished with a decorative inscription that enframes  the document; it begins with the blessing “With a good omen and great fortune for the bridegroom and the bride and all of Israel, Amen, may it be His will” and is followed by Proverbs 18:22, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord,” by a verse from Ruth 4:11  “May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel and do worthily in Ephrath, and be famous in Beth Lehem” and the priestly blessing.

The groom’s father, Isaac Fiano, served as the Rabbi of Ancona from 1752-1770 and a ketubbah recording the marriage of the groom’s son, Shabbetai Isaac, (Ancona, 1795) is found in a private European collection.