A DECORATED KETUBBAH FROM ANCONA, 1818

Ink, gouache, and shell gold on parchment (27 5/8 x 21 1/8 in.; 702 x 534 mm); written in square script in brown ink on eighteen long lines; ruled in blind; long tena’im paragraph in Italian Hebrew cursive script below; correction on line 7. Scalloped upper edge; enlarged incipit; floral motifs throughout the decorative border. Slight scattered staining; some paint and ink flaking; minor creasing; small hole in upper edge at apex.

Celebrating the wedding of Jacob Israel ben Hayyim Michael Raphael Murgi and Diamante bat Isaac Perez Bonsignor in Ancona on Wednesday, 10 Adar II 5578 (March 18, 1818). Ancona was one of the most important centers of ketubbah decoration in Italy. The present document features a floral border of entwined vines and lushly painted flowers. The text is flanked by two women, the figure at right holding a sickle and the one at left a glass of red wine. Beneath the women are biblical phrases related to the imagery which offer blessings to the bride and groom: “They shall bring to life new grain, they shall blossom like the vine” (Hos. 14:8).