A Fine Illuminated Shivviti, Livorno: 1893

Ink, gouache, and shell gold on paper (26 1/4 x 19 3/4 in.; 670 x 500 mm).

This sumptuously decorated shivviti, illustrated with the Ten Commandments, two Temple menorahs, and a variety of biblical verses, was created in honor of the Italian philanthropist Raffaello Rosselli (1837-1926). The inscription below bestows a blessing upon him and his family. Rosselli was apparently a collector of antiquities and a man of excellent taste. In August of 1896, it was reported in Il Corriere Israelitico, the Italian monthly magazine devoted to Jewish history and literature, that he had donated to the Museum of Livorno “precious ancient objects of fine work.”

Literature

Lauro Rossi, Politica, valori, idealità: Carlo e Nello Rosselli maestri dell’Italia civile (Rome: Carocci, 2003).