Select manuscript from this collection: B26  K37 K41  S102  58/107

Country of Location:
Country of Location
Switzerland
Location:
Location
Zürich
Library / Collection:
Library / Collection
Braginsky Collection
Shelfmark:
Shelfmark
K40
Manuscript Title:
Manuscript Title
Ketubah (כתובה), Ancona, 13 Adar 5555 (4 March 1795)
Caption:
Caption
Parchment · 1 f. · 69.2 x 46 cm · Ancona · 1795
Language:
Language
Hebrew
Manuscript Summary:
Manuscript Summary
This decorated ketubah, as well as Braginsky Collection K29 produced just six years earlier, represent the height of ketubah illustration in Ancona. The text of this ketubah is centered under the arch supported by a pair of ornamental columns. While arches were commonly used as framing devices in ketubah decorations since the earliest known ketubot from the Cairo Genizah, the gold letters inscribed here against the blue spandrels provide an additional meaning. The six square Hebrew letters, an acronym for Psalms 118:20: “This is the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous may enter”, signify that the bridal couple is symbolically passing through the heavenly gate into a sanctified stage in their life. A depiction of the sacrifice of Isaac, an allusion to the bridegroom whose second name is Isaac, is located in a cartouche at the top center. This scene, a symbol of faithfulness and messianic promise that appears on many italian ketubot, has been the most popular biblical story in Jewish art over the ages. The female figure beneath has not been identified so far. (red)
DOI (Digital Object Identifier):
DOI (Digital Object Identifier
10.5076/e-codices-bc-k-0040 (http://dx.doi.org/10.5076/e-codices-bc-k-0040)
Permanent link:
Permanent link
https://www.e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/k-0040
IIIF Manifest URL:
IIIF Manifest URL
IIIF Drag-n-drop https://www.e-codices.ch/metadata/iiif/bc-k-0040/manifest.json
How to quote:
How to quote
Zürich, Braginsky Collection, K40: Ketubah (כתובה), Ancona, 13 Adar 5555 (4 March 1795) (https://www.e-codices.ch/en/list/one/bc/k-0040).
Online Since:
Online Since
03/22/2017
External resources:
External resources
Rights:
Rights
Images:
(Concerning all other rights see each manuscript description and our Terms of use)
Document Type:
Document Type
Document
Century:
Century
18th century
Dated:
Dated
1795
Decoration:
Decoration
Figurative, Full Page, Fully Painted, Gold / Silver, Ornamental
Liturgica hebraica:
Liturgica hebraica
Ketubbah
Annotation Tool - Log in

e-codices · 01/25/2017, 18:17:28

This lavishly decorated ketubbah, as well as Braginsky Collection Ketubbah 29 (cat. no. 67) produced just six years earlier, represent the height of ketubbah
illustration in Ancona. While the art of ketubbah decoration declined in northern Italy during the last decades of the eighteenth century, in central Italy,
most prominently in the papal states of Rome and Ancona, it continued to flourish well into the nineteenth century, especially among affluent families. In fact, the bridegroom in this marriage contract is evidently the grandson of his namesake, the noted physician Shabettai Isaac Fiani, who served as rabbi and head of the rabbinical court in Ancona from 1752 to 1770.
In an attempt to use the entire skin of the animal, Ancona’s craftsmen decoratively trimmed the area around the animal’s neck, with the contour of the shoulders creating the wavy form seen here at the top. The ornamental border is dominated by large red spaces, upon which floral designs in sparedground technique appear. The emphasis on large areas of red and blue are typical of ketubbot and megillot from Ancona.
The text is centered under an arch supported by a pair of ornamental gilt columns. While arches were commonly used as framing devices in ketubbah decoration since the earliest known ketubbot from the Cairo Genizah, the gold letters inscribed here against the blue spandrels provide an additional meaning. The six square Hebrew letters, an acronym for Psalms 118:20: “This is the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous may enter,” signify that the bridal couple is symbolically passing through
the heavenly gate into a sanctified stage in their life. The standard Jewish word for marriage, kiddushim, literally means sanctification.
A depiction of the Sacrifice of Isaac, an allusion to the bridegroom whose second name is Isaac, is located in a cartouche at the top center. This scene, a symbol of faithfulness and messianic promise that appears on many Italian ketubbot, has been the most popular biblical story in Jewish art over the ages. The figure beneath, who is more difficult to identify, is perhaps the prophet Samuel, an allusion to the groom’s father.

A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 194.

e-codices · 01/25/2017, 18:14:04

Dieses Exemplar veranschaulicht den Höhepunkt der Herstellung illustrierter Ketubbot in Ancona, und zwar zu einer Zeit, als in den nördlichen Landesteilen schon der Niedergang einsetzte. Insbesondere in den jüdischen Zentren des Kirchenstaates, wie Rom oder Ancona, hielt sich innerhalb wohlhabender Familien der hohe künstlerische Anspruch bis ins 19. Jahrhundert hinein. Der Bräutigam dieses Hochzeitsvertrags ist der Enkel des bekannten gleichnamigen Arztes Schabettai Isaak Fiani, der von 1752 bis 1770 in Ancona als Rabbiner und Vorsitzender des rabbinischen Gerichts wirkte.
Den Rahmen dominieren flache florale Ornamente auf rotem Grund, ähnlich den dekorativen Oberflächen, wie sie sich bei den Steinmustern der Pietra-dura-Technik ergeben. Solche grossen Flächen in rot oder blau sind typisch für die aus Ancona stammenden Ketubbot und Megillot. Die sechs goldenen Buchstaben in den durch das gelbe Inschriftenband entstandenen Zwickeln sind die Anfangsbuchstaben der einzelnen Wörter eines Psalmverses: «Dies ist das Tor des Herrn, durch das die Gerechten eingehen werden» (Psalm 118:20). Sie verweisen auf die Vorstellung, dass das Brautpaar bei der Trauung symbolisch durch ein himmlisches Tor einen geheiligten Raum betritt, der ihr Leben fortan bestimmen soll.
Die auch auf der Ketubba aus Casale Monferrato von 1675 (Katalog Nr. 45) dargestellte Opferung Isaaks taucht als Symbol der Glaubenstreue und der messianischen Verheissung auf illustrierten Ketubbot häufig auf. Zudem spielt die Opferungsszene auf den zweiten Vornamen des Bräutigams an. Die Bedeutung der kleinen weiblichen Figur darunter ist nicht entschlüsselt.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 198.

Add an annotation
Annotation Tool - Log in

A Journey through Jewish Worlds. Highlights from the Braginsky collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, hrsg. E. M. Cohen, S. L. Mintz, E. G. L. Schrijver, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 194.

Schöne Seiten. Jüdische Schriftkultur aus der Braginsky Collection, Hrsg. von Emile Schrijver und Falk Wiesemann, Zürich 2011, S. 198.

Add a bibliographical reference