ART AND GRAPES

The symbolism of grapes
The act of eating and drinking has always borne great symbolism, and for this reason, many food products entered the sacred or profane iconography due to their symbolic value. Grapes are one of these symbolic foods par excellence, beginning from the scenes depicted on ancient Greek ceramics, and scenes sculptured on sarcophagi, to reliefs in the portals of churches dating from the X to XIV centuries, that associated vine branches and grape bunches, to symbolism of the Eucharist, Christology and the Resurrection.
 

Grapes in sacred and funerary art
During a period of important philosophical evolution in Greek society, Dionysius, god of wine takes on increasing importance. His cult is associated with knowledge of the mysteries of life after death, and as a result of this relationship, the vine becomes a funerary symbol, whose role adopted in the symbolism of the Romans, Jews and Christians.
This can be seen in funerary art that reproduced motifs of the vine, harvest and the production of wine on tombs, exhibiting how this drink was considered to be a strong symbol of immortality and of security with respect to the mysterious passage between life and death.
 

Still life: the aesthetics of grapes
Still life can already be seen in Roman art: in frescoes found in the villas of Pompeii, grapes are represented, together with other food items, vases, game, bread and wine.

From the end of the sixteenth century onwards, wine and grapes become the focus of still life, a genre of profane art of great decorative impact, much sought after, so much so that the XVII century witnesses considerable development in works representing fruit, and in particular, grapes.
 

Grapes in nature drawings
With the emergence of botany as a discipline, nature drawings depicting grapes, become more important, descriptive and precise. Towards the end of the seventeenth century in Italy, Bartolomeo Bimbi, was one of the most renowned artists of nature drawings. Gallesio is the first to present plates of Italian vine varieties, in his Pomona Italiana: a treaty on fruit trees, published in Pisa between 1817 and 1839. 

Grapes as a decorative element
Since ancient times, grapes become a graphic symbol used as a decorative element in friezes, medallions and jewellery. Even on ancient coins, the image of the grape bunch, was very common, and was represented as grape bunches, with or without leaves or tendrils, sometimes still attached to the trunk, and often associated with other symbols. Over the centuries, grapes are reproduced on ceramics and majolica’s, on tapestries and fabrics, on silver and inlays.