Decorated parchment ketubah, for the wedding of Yitzchak son of Yosef Chizkiyahu Sacuto and Donna Grazia daughter of Avraham Chai son of Yaakov Baruch Caravaglio. Livorno, Italy, 12th Adar 5507 [22 February 1747].
Ink and paint on parchment.
Written on a large parchment sheet, with upper part cut in pointed arched pattern. The text is written in two columns, in Sephardic semi-cursive script, with a few words in square script. The ketubah text is to the right, and the Tena'im to the left (in accordance with the custom of the Sephardic Jews of Livorno). Beneath the text of the ketubah are the signatures of the groom (in Latin characters), two witnesses – Shalom Attar and Moshe son of Refael Baruch (in Hebrew) – and the signature of the gabbai of the Talmud Torah, Yaakov Binyamin Sacuto (in Latin characters). Signatures of the groom and witnesses appear once more beneath the Tena'im, followed by the signature of the registrar, David Nuñez. The ketubah text states that a civil marriage document was drawn up by the notary Giovan Battista Gamerra on February 20th.
The ketubah is decorated in bright colors, with gilt decorations, in a symmetric architectural pattern comprised of three large pillars supporting the arches, topped by a large gable. The upper half is richly decorated with vegetal patterns incorporating: a pair of figures holding the upper arch, featuring a coat of arms – a crowned rampant lion facing to the left (perhaps the groom's family coat of arms), two pairs of birds and a pair of angels blowing horns. On the gable appear figurative illustrations of the twelve signs of the zodiac, inscribed blessings, and in the center – an illustration of Jerusalem, with the Dome of the Rock in the middle. At the bottom half appear four large allegorical illustrations depicting the Four Seasons (in the right and left margins), and four smaller illustrations depicting the Temple vessels (at the bottom edge).
A similarly designed ketubah from Livorno (1720) is located in the U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art in Jerusalem (388 Ms. ON). For another ketubah of the Caravaglio family and for further information on this family, see previous lot.
62.5X88 cm. Fair-good condition. Creases and folding marks. Stains and some large dampstains, slightly affecting text and decorations, mainly to upper half.
