A Ketubbah, meaning “writ,” is, traditionally, a pre-nuptual contract that stipulates the obligations a groom takes upon himself should he divorce or pre-decease his wife. Through the Middle Ages, the vast majority of ketubbot (pl. of ketubah) looked like common contracts, which were very rarely enhanced with simple decoration. But beginning in early modernity, ketubbot were more commonly magnificently decorated, and they remain one of the most outstanding media for Jewish artistic creativity. 

This beautiful ketubbah, from Mantua, Italy, is richly decorated with a floral motif, with clusters of grapes, perhaps symbolizing fertility, at the bottom. The style of the decoration, along with the shape of the ketubbah itself, are typical of Italian ketubbot of the time. The image of the hand pouring water into a laver, in the cartouche at the top, symbolizes the fact that the groom was a Levite.