Obj. ID: 45770
Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts  Wedding Poem, 1805

The following description was prepared by William Gross:

A Blessing and poem of praise in honor of the wedding of the groom Abraham Zvi son of Ber from Pressburg and the bride Alik daughter of Moshe Cohen Kovrin, Elul 1805. Manuscript on parchment, fine scribe’s writing with ornaments. Blessing and poem composed by the brother of the groom. “I will open my lips today with a prayer to the Almighty for today my friend and brother-in-law, the joy of my heart and a man of my age … Abraham Zvi son of Ber from Pressburg with my sister Alik daughter of Moshe Cohen Kovrin, beautiful and pleasant bride…” Heading at top of sheet – The year 1805. Below the opening paragraph is an original poem with twelve stanzas. Acrostic at beginning of lines of bride’s and groom’s names. The artist's name appears at the bottom of the sheet in small letters: “Written by Samuel son of Abraham Cohen, scribe in the year 1805”.

The Hebrew wedding poem, composed by friends and family of the bridal couple, was an integral part of this popular genre among both Christians and Jews in Italy of the 17th and 18th centuries. The form usually began with an honorific statement praising the bridal couple and their families and expressing good wishes. The central section was the poem itself, specially composed for the occasion. The form was often either sonnets or poems of multiple stanzas with regular allusions to and printing emphasis for the names of the couple. The last section was the salutation from and the signature of the author. While mostly found as printed documents, there are manuscript versions known as well. Both sorts exist in the Gross Family Collection..

A blessing and poem in honor of the bridal couple, composed by the brother of the bride.  Apparently written on uterine parchment, the skillful scribe has created a beautiful composition with delicate script and decorations. The letters of the first words of the lines of the poem form the names of the couple in an acrostic form.

Bride:                                Alik bat Moshe Cohen Kovrin

Groom:                             Avraham Tzvi ben Ber

Scribe:                              Shmuel ben Avraham Cohen

Author:                             Yitzhak Ya'akov Hacohen