An Elaborately Illustrated Sabbath Cloth

Printed cotton (47 x 46 ¼ in.; 1194 cm; 1174 mm).

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Fabric of Jewish Life: Textiles from the Jewish Museum Collection, 1977, cat. no. 230; Nitza Behrouzi, Jerusalem - Spirit and Matter, 1993, p. 55; Rachel Sarfati, ed., Offerings from Jerusalem: Portrayals of Holy Places by Jewish Artists, 2002, pp. 92-93             

This vibrant Sabbath cloth is profusely decorated with twenty-five numbered illustrations of holy places in the Land of Israel including the tomb of the patriarchs and matriarchs, and other important biblical figures, as well as tombs of some Mishnaic and Talmudic sages; also depicted are the four sacred cities: Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed. At center, is an image of the Temple Mount and Western Wall in Jerusalem. In four corner panels, the numbered sites are identified in Italian, leading scholars to the conclusion that this nineteenth century Sabbath cloth was produced in Italy. Three comparable cloths may be found in the collections of: the Jewish Museum NY (F4362); the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (161/26); and the U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art, Jerusalem.