Illuminated parchment ketubah, recording the marriage of the groom Yehoshua Chaim ben Matzliach HaCohen with the bride Pazienza bat Michael Chaim Menashe Campos. Ancona, Italy, 14th Nisan 5587 [April 11, 1827].

Ink and paint on parchment.

Ketubah written on a large rectangular parchment sheet, with the upper margin cut in a decorative pattern. The ketubah text appears in the center in square script, with signatures of the witnesses in the margins: Matityahu Elia Yechiel Cagli and Yitzchak ben Raphael Levi, who signed his name in Latin letters. In the lower third, additional "Tena'im" appear in cursive Italian script, followed by the signatures of the aforementioned witnesses. The ketubah also references a "Shetar Notzri" agreed upon by the bride and groom (i.e. a parallel document in Italian).

The ketubah text is framed within an arch supported by two architectural columns. The margins are decorated with colorful floral illustrations incorporating two butterflies, in motifs characteristic of ketubot from Ancona (see also previous in the present catalogue). At the top, a cartouche with blessings, surmounted by a crown. Along the right and left margins, two allegorical illustrations represent the bride and groom – the groom holding a sheaf of wheat, and the bride holding a vine with grapes – accompanied by a blessing from Hosea 14:8: they shall revive [like] corn and blossom like the vine (Hebrew).

66X51 cm. Overall good condition.

For a similar ketubah and further information, see: Shalom Sabar, The Art of the Ketubbah, Vol. I. New York: Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, 2022, no. 118 (KET 62).