A Singular Decorated Ketubbah from Forli, Italy: 1826

Ink and gouache on parchment (26 1/4 x 18 in.; 670 x 460 mm). Framed.

Celebrating the wedding of Isaac Elyakim, the son of Baruch, to Rosa, the daughter of Isaac Shabbtai Camerini on Wednesday, 13 of Av, 5586 (=August 16, 1826).

The north-central Italian city of Forlì was home to a Jewish community at least as far back as the mid-13th century. Although the Jews were expelled from Forli and other Papal States in 1569, Jewish presence was reestablished during the Napoleonic era. This unusual ketubbah features a neo-classical building with a portico crowned by a gable of monumental proportions resting on a series of columns. The civic pride of the local Jews of Forli may have led to the incorporation of one of the city's prominent architectural landmarks into the decoration of this ketubbah.