The fresco in the Library of the Convent of Saints Joseph Tecla and Rita in Ferrara, a reading proposal

Abstract

For the first time, the iconography, the literary source of Hebrew inscriptions, the Ecclesiaste, and the historical-cultural context of the fresco in the Library of the Convent of San Giuseppe, Tecla, and Rita in Ferrara are specifically looked at. This is a Baroque “quadratura” created at the end of the 18th century by Francesco Scala for the Order of Barefooted Augustinians, responsible for the Christianization of Jews, which is the main reason for the presence of numerous Hebrew manuscripts in the convent’s library collection.