Ketubah of Isaac de Pinto and Rahel Rovigo

Shalom Italia

1654

Page of Aramaic text framed by flora and small pictorial scenes with human figures, with linked hands and heart at top center.
In 1654, Rahel bat Hannah Rovigo married Isaac ben Abraham de Pinto, a member of a prosperous Jewish family of merchant bankers in Amsterdam. The ketubah (marriage contract), which outlines the husband’s obligations to his wife, was illustrated by a famous artist of Italian origin, Shalom Italia, who arrived in Amsterdam around 1641. The marriage was witnessed and signed by Menasseh Ben Israel—a rabbi, scholar, and printer—and the wealthy Portuguese Jewish merchant Abraham Pereyra. In this very attractive ketubah, Shalom Italia created six vignettes, three on each side of the contract, that detail the meeting of the bride and groom, their presentation before their families, the rabbinic authorities, and their departure together. Birds and flowers encircle the vignettes.

Credits

Collection Ets Haim - Livraria Montezinos, Amsterdam, EH PL A01.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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Creator Bio

Shalom Italia

1619–1655
Engraver, etcher, and draftsman Shalom Italia was, as his name indicates, from Italy, where his family worked in the Mantua printing industry. However, probably attracted by the opportunities in the growing metropolis, he made his way to Amsterdam by 1641. Among Shalom Italia’s works are illustrated ketubot (marriage contracts), book illustrations, and portraits of the community’s leading figures, such as Menasseh Ben Israel, who was the founder of Amsterdam’s first Hebrew printing press and an advocate for the readmission of Jews to England.

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