A Magnificent Illuminated Ketubbah from Rovigo, 1736

Celebrating the wedding of Elijah ben Samuel ha-Levi and Malkah bat Jehiel Pisa on Friday, 7 Heshvan 5497 (October 12, 1736).

This rare marriage contract from the Italian city of Rovigo is ornamented with a lavish array of decorative elements. Above the central text panel is a stylized knot painted in gold whose meaning is explained by the first four words of Song 1:13 inscribed within the knot: “My beloved is to me a bundle [or ‘knot’] of myrrh.” Bordering the text are the signs of the Zodiac which appear in the foliate cartouches, beginning at top right with Aries, the sign for the first month (Nisan), and proceeding around the border counterclockwise, ending with Pisces, the sign of the last month (Adar). The corner medallions contain personifications of the Four Seasons. They, too, begin at the top right and proceed counterclockwise: Summer—a woman with stalks of wheat in her hair, kneeling and harvesting wheat with a sickle; Fall—a man picking grapes; Spring—a woman holding a flower; and Winter—a man warming himself by a fire. The ketubbah is further embellished with the characteristic inscriptional border featuring wedding-appropriate verses from Genesis (27:28), Proverbs (18:22), and Ruth (4:11-12), with words in the upper margin set decoratively within an oval frame. Only a very small number of decorated ketubbot are still extant from the city of Rovigo; KTIV, the main online international database of Hebrew manuscripts and ketubbot, lists only four.

Physical Description

Ink, gouache, and shell gold on parchment (28 1/2 x 21 1/2 in.; 724 x 546 mm). Framed. Light stains in the outer margin not affecting the text.