A ketubbah (“writ”) is a pre-nuptual contract that specifies many of a groom’s obligations to his bride in the event of divorce or the death of the husband. Rooted in ancient traditions, the ketubbah, the purpose of which is to protect a woman’s interests, was for much of its history a genuine contract, the specifics of which could be modified for individual relationships; eventually, though, the formula of the ketubbah was standardized. Because of the importance of the wedding in Jewish tradition,  it became customary to decorate ketubbot, and these documents are often the most beautiful artistic creations of local Jewish cultures. 

When this ketubbah was created, Corfu was still a protectorate of the Republic of Venice. This explains the influence of Italian-Jewish style on the decoration of this document, as well as the Italian writing on the bottom right of the text (a clause recording the registration of the marriage in the community’s ”ketubbah book”). The decorative program of the ketubbah is both traditional (signs of the Zodiac, angels, floral designs) and unusual (the image of the Israelites collecting manna in the desert in the bottom right or the frame). The ketubbah includes two other significant pieces of writing: in Hebrew, in the main text, the bride’s obligations to her husband are listed (in the midst of the typical Aramaic conditions outlining the husband’s obligations) and in Hebrew, on the bottom left, a testimony, signed by witnesses, declaring that the groom found the bride to be a virgin.