Jewish Wedding

Jan Luyken

1683

Print engraving of indoor scene with people standing around couple under large canopy with musicians in background.
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In this engraving from a Dutch translation of Leone Modena’s Historia de’ riti Ebraici (History of the Jewish Rites), a Jewish wedding in Amsterdam is pictured. Groom and bride stand under the huppah (wedding canopy). Jan Luyken (1649–1712), the prolific Dutch engraver, produced expressive depictions of Jewish rituals, creative illustrations of figures and themes from the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Gospels, and later created a variety of images for a Latin translation of the Mishnah, published at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century.

Credits

Courtesy Amsterdam Museum.

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

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Page with Hebrew text of decorative border and Star of David located in bottom section, with signatures in the Roman alphabet below.
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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.
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Creator Bio

Jan Luyken

1649–1712

Jan Luyken was a Dutch poet, illustrator, and engraver. Born in Amsterdam, he learned engraving from his father, Caspar Luyken. In 1671, he published a volume of erotic poetry but only a few years later, he became a Baptist and turned to writing mystical, religious poems.

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