Kiddushin and Wedding Ceremony

Bernard Picart

1723

Two-panel drawing, the top of many people in interior room, some seated on right side under canopy, and the bottom of many people outside with a central figure with veil.
Tooltip info icon

Between 1723 and 1737, illustrator Bernard Picart partnered with the Dutch bookseller, editor, and publisher Jean-Frédéric Bernard on Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde (Religious Ceremonies and Customs of All the Peoples of the World). It was the most famous encyclopedic work on religion of its time, and is considered the first global, comparative vision of religion. It was condemned by the Catholic Church but was a success with the public and translated immediately into Dutch, and later into English and German. It was reprinted many times. The book’s 266 plates by Picart included depictions of Jewish religious practices in Amsterdam, focusing on the wealthy Sephardic community. Here, two rituals related to marriage are depicted: (top) the groom breaking the glass in the wedding ceremony and (bottom) kiddushin, the betrothal ceremony, where the groom gives the bride an object of value (here, a ring).

Credits

Bernard Picart (workshop of), Huwelijksplechtigheid bij Portugese en Asjkenazische Joden Ceremonie nuptiale des Juifs Portugais / Ceremonie nuptiale des Juifs, Amsterdam, 1723. Allemands. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

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

Engage with this Source
Page with Hebrew text of decorative border and Star of David located in bottom section, with signatures in the Roman alphabet below.
Tooltip info icon

Related Guide

Early Modern Rabbis and Intellectuals on the Move

1500–1750

Carrying books and knowledge, itinerant rabbis and scholars traveled between communities, facilitating cultural exchange. 

Facing-page Hebrew manuscript with charts with Hebrew letters on left side, and geometric drawings on right side.
Tooltip info icon

Related Guide

Early Modern Spiritual Ideologies

1500–1750

Early modern Jewish spiritual life encompassed diverse elements, including theology, ethics, liturgy, and messianism.

You may also like

Giv‘at Shaul (The Hill of Saul)

The Israelites were fertile, wa-yishreṣu wa-yirbu wa-ya‘aṣmu very greatly, so that the land was full with them (Exod. 1:7). “R. Isaac said, Whoever takes pleasure in an optional…
View Source