Illuminated ketubbah of the Romaniote rite (Corfu)

The ketubbah is the Jewish marriage contract that sets out the husband's obligations toward the wife, including financial commitments guaranteeing her protection, and which is read beneath the wedding canopy. This example belongs to the Romaniote rite, a tradition specific to the Greek-speaking Jews of the Balkans and the Ionian Islands, whose history stretches back to antiquity and which is distinct from both Sephardic and Ashkenazic practice. In Corfu, where Romaniote, Italian, and Sephardic communities coexisted, illuminated ketubbot are distinguished by their vivid floral borders and representations of biblical figures. At once a legal and artistic object, this contract illustrates the richness of the art of the marriage document in the Jewish communities of the Eastern Mediterranean.