A.V. Seletsky
1866Leah Aronova [European Jew, Mogilev Guberniya]
Salt paper printRussian Museum of EthnographyNumber: ??? 8764-21531
Curatorial description (Accessed: 5 August 2021)
The photograph was received from P. P. Muromtsev, Fellow, Society of Natural Science, Anthropology, and Ethnography.
Leah Aronova is wearing a dress with an apron, a tied kerchief on her neck, and a tichel or mitpahat (headscarf or shawl tied in a special way) on her head.
According to Jewish tradition, woman's image, tzniut, must reflect modesty and humility: in clothing, thoughts, behavior, and conversation.
The main religious commandment related to clothing prescribed to cover the head. Married women tied a large headscarf, tichel, on their head. Apart from the large headscarf, women wore a headband wig on a closely cropped or shaven head.
Over their dress or skirt, women put on a long apron, which they also had to wear outdoors.
The photograph was displayed at the Russian Ethnographic Exhibition of 1867 in Moscow.
LL/112518