Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Yaakov son of Moshe Chai Curiel and Rachel daughter of Kalonymus Nuveira. Venice, Italy, 8th Adar 5519 [March 7, 1759].
Ink and paint on parchment.
Ketubah on large rectangular parchment sheet, with upper edges cut into an arch shape. Th text is written in two columns: to the right appears the ketubah text in square script, and to the left appears the Tenaim text in Sephardic semi-cursive script. At edge of ketubah text and of Tenaim appears the signature of the groom (in Latin characters) and the witnesses Simchah son of Avraham Calimani [Venetian rabbi, grammarian, playwright and poet] and David Chai son of Avraham Shanah Tovah.
The decorated frame is divided into two parts, richly decorated and illustrated with images, patterns and verses, as well as the coat of arms of the bride's family (Nuveira; also spelled: Noveira, Novera, Nojera or Navarro).
57X80 cm. Fair-good condition. Old stains and dampstains, affecting text and decorations. Few pinholes. Tears, including some open tears (to margins and bottom right corner), slightly affecting illustrations, professionally restored.
This ketubah is also documented on the NLI ketubah site, listing 990003035560205171.
For further information and similar ketubot, see: Shalom Sabar, The Art of the Ketubbah, New York: Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, 2022, vol. I, nos. 29 (KET 49) and 36 (KET 1).
For the Nuveira family coat of arms, see: Elvio Giuditta, Araldica Ebraica in Italia, [Torino]: Società Italiana di Studi Araldici, 2007, p. 74.
