The Ark (curtain) de Triomphe
An 18th century textile—once adorning a synagogue ark—bears the unusual signature of a young Italian Jewish woman and blankets a fascinating rabbit hole.
The floral pattern and blue-colored silk are so arresting it’s easy to overlook the textile’s Hebrew text below: “The work of (melecheth) the young woman (bachurah) Mrs. (mara”t) Simcha Viterbo. The year of ‘The straight and the good.’” Off the bat, the inscription gestures to several complexities enmeshed in this object.
How is the artist both married a…