Extraordinary illustrated Kesubah on parchment. Senigallia, 1751
The kesubah was inscribed in honor of the marriage of the groom Yosef Chizkiya, son of the elder and scholar Uriah Yaakov Chai Galligo, to the bride Chana, daughter of Rabbi Yitzchak Kochav. The document is inscribed in a beautiful script, with the witnesses’ signatures appearing at the end. The kesubah, illustrated on parchment with dozens of delicate drawings, is a striking work of art characteristic of Italian artwork of the era.
The text is set within a gold frame resembling a house topped with a dome. At the top of the dome is a decorated medallion with the verse, "
Blessed is the man who fears Hashem" (Tehillim 112:1) and inside it is a depiction of a man walking with his son to a Yeshiva, carrying a sefer.
Beneath, inside the dome, are fine drawings of an ancient walled city with towers symbolizing Jerusalem, and on either side of the illustration are two birds, and beneath them roosters, to symbolize fertility. The wildlife is flanked with two scrolls bearing the verse, "The vineyard of Hashem is the house of Yisrael." (Yeshaya 5:7). Grapevines intertwined with leaves, tendrils, and clusters of grapes, among them medallions with rococo scrolls, are drawn around and beneath the illustration of the city. Inscribed above each scroll are verses from
Tehillim 128 – this chapter is customarily sung under the Chuppa by Italian Jewry – that praise the one who fears Hashem and walks in His ways: "You will eat the fruit of your labor", "Your wife will be like a fruitful vine", "May you live to see your children’s children", "Thus is the man blessed…"
Each verse of chapter 128 is depicted with an illustration. On either side of the dome are figures of angels blowing trumpets.
On either side of the text are two beautiful columns, from which hang floral and botanical decorations, and on either side of each column is a cypress tree, symbolizing growth and stability. Inscribed in gold ink above the two columns is the Aramaic verse that translates as: "In a good sign and under a favorable constellation for this groom and bride and all Yisrael, Amen. So may it be His will."
The columns are encased in a double frame of medallions, set with scroll-like ornaments complemented by illustrated blessings and verses from Shir Hashirim. Among the medallions are 12 smaller medallions within rococo scrolls and angel wings, representing the Twelve Tribes in the order of their encampment in the desert, with the name of each tribe and a matching illustration presented underneath. Above each medallion is a smaller medallion depicting one of the 12 zodiac signs, with its name written above it.
Senigallia, 1751
Condition: Good, slight fading of colors.
Size: Height: 77 cm. Width: 53 cm.
Provenance: Yechezkel Toporowitch Collection
For a related family kesubah with this same name from Senigallia in the JTS collection see here:
Link
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