Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of David son of Shlomo Basilea and Diamanta daughter of Moshe David Verlengo of Verona. Mantua, Italy, 1st Tevet 5503 [December 28, 1742].
Ink and paint on parchment.
Ketubah on large rectangular parchment sheet, with upper margins cut in a wave pattern. The ketubah text appears in the center, in square script, with the signatures of the witnesses below (blurred): Yehudah son of Yaakov Mondolfi and Gur Aryeh son of Binyamin Finzi.
The decorated frame is divided into two parts: the upper third features a golden guilloche captioned "My beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me" (Shir HaShirim 1:13), surrounded by rich illustrations in vegetal patterns, with a pair of flower vases, a pair of birds standing on branches, a pair of angels holding a medallion (empty), headed by the verse: "A woman of valor is the crown of her husband": The bottom two thirds contain a repeating pattern of leaves and flowers, incorporating the twelve signs of the zodiac, and in the four corners – inside round medallions – appear four illustrations of the Temple vessels: the menorah, the washing basin, the ark and the showbread. The outer frame incorporates verses of blessing from the Book of Ruth.
The array of designs in this ketubah was very popular in the 18th century, and variations of it are repeated in many Italian ketubot of the period. The present variation contains illustrations of the Temple vessels, as opposed to others depicting the four seasons.
The second witness to sign the ketubah, Gur Aryeh son of Binyamin Finzi, was a rabbi of Mantua, a disciple of R. Yehudah Briel. R. Aviad Sar Shalom Basilea, another contemporary rabbi of Mantua, writes in one of his letters, when he joined the Ramchal controversy, that he read the Ramchal's writings "in the company of R. Yehudah Mendola and R. Gur Finzi" (Igrot Ramchal Uvnei Doro, p. 390). R. Gur Aryeh Finzi was eulogized by the Chida, who reached Mantua at the time of his passing (in 1754; the Chida documents this in his Maagal Tov). R. Gur Aryeh proofread and published the Shulchan Aruch with the commentary of his uncle R. Gur Aryeh (son of Moshe Hoshayah) Finzi of Mantua.
54.5X79.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, some dark, affecting some decorations. The gold decorations are partly faded, appearing in a shade of green instead. Moisture damage, some heavy, affecting text and illustrations (discernible mainly on verso). Marginal tears and missing pieces, professionally restored.
This ketubah is also documented on the NLI ketubah site, listing 990003035500205171.
For further information and similar ketubot, see: Shalom Sabar, The Art of the Ketubbah, Vol. I. New York: Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, 2022, nos. 29 (KET 49), 37-38 (KET 258, KET 45).
