A Decorated Ketubbah from Ancona, 1823

Ink and gouache on parchment (25 1/2 x 20 in.; 650 x 513 mm). Matted and framed.

Celebrating the marriage of Michael Raphael Hayyim ben Isaac Sha‘ar Aryeh (Portaleone) and Tovah (known as Fortunata) bat Abraham Hazak of Lugo in Ancona on Wednesday, 11 Sivan 5583 (May 21, 1823).

This elaborately decorated marriage contract was written and illustrated in the port city of Ancona, one of the most creative centers of ketubbah decoration in Italy. It features a floral border of entwined vines and lushly painted flowers. The text is flanked by two figures of turbaned men, the figure at right holding a sheaf of grain and the one at left a flowering grapevine. Beneath them are biblical phrases offering blessings to the bride and groom: “They shall bring to life new grain, they shall blossom like the vine” (Hos. 14:8). This unusual iconography is also found on a similarly-decorated ketubbah, presumably executed by the same artist and currently located in The Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York (KET 62).