Wine

Wine is undoubtedly the drink that has most inspired artists and poets over the centuries in the production of artistic works, both in painting and sculptures.

I believe the first evidence of wine in pictorial art can be found in the two-dimensional representations of ancient Egyptian art, which boasts ancient origins prior to the fourth millennium BC. In ancient Egyptian art, wine held an important sacral, curative and even funeral value, as evidenced by the grape seeds found in Egyptian tombs. Wine in Egypt was omnipresent in the feasts dedicated to Osiris (the god of wine), real alcoholic banquets whose frescoes and bas-reliefs of Egyptian art preserve the memory. Furthermore, Egyptian art was the first to depict, in the walls of the tombs, scenes of vine growing forms but also the grape harvest and wine-making

Following the Egyptian art, wine found great space in the ancient art of the Phoenicians, Greeks and later the Etruscans. The spread of wine in ancient art in the West finds its first origin and maximum expression in Hellenic vase art. In fact, there are countless examples of Craters, that are large vases used in the Symposiums to mix and dilute wine and water, depicting images related to wine and its consumption.

We owe to the Greeks the cult of Dionysus who gave wine a divine connotation, and which inspired the image of wine in classical art. The Greek iconography of Dionysus, handed down by the Romans under the name of Bacchus, corresponds to an indolent young man with androgynous features. The charm of the archaic god of wine and intoxication has continued to inspire artists and poets over the centuries in the classical, modern and Renaissance periods. The imaginary of wine in art in the pictorial art of Greek and Roman inspiration was also recovered with the currents of French neoclassicism and academicism. In fact, Dionisio inspired many famous artists such as Michelangelo, Titian, Caravaggio, but also poets such as Francesco Redi and Lorenzo de ‘Medici.

With medieval art and the reign of the Lombards, agriculture and viticulture experienced a period of decline and the Arab dominations in southern Europe caused a further downsizing of wine and its representation in art, with the ban on viticulture in all the occupied territories. Although the anti-classicism of medieval art rejected the heritage of classical iconography linked to the exaltation of intoxication conferred by wine, monasticism became the guardian of viticulture. In fact, wine became part of the liturgy of the Eucharist allowing the maintenance of the viti-cultural tradition by the monks (thanks to the art of miniatures which served as evidence). Viticulture and wine in the art of painting rediscovered their centrality with the age of the municipalities with technological developments and innovations in the agricultural field. This process of development and economic growth favoured a growing recovery of the wine iconography of classical art, creating the conditions for a new humanism of the famous grape lysergic.

In the Renaissance, art linked to wine delighted noble courts such as that of the Medici, becoming symbols of refinement and the exclusive privileges of the hedonistic pleasure associated with it. In fact, the Medici became patrons and promoters of the recovery of the cult of classically inspired wine, as exemplified by the famous poem by Lorenzo the Magnificent “The triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne”. Between 1400-1500 there are countless testimonies of works dedicated to Bacchus, including the famous marble statue by Michelangelo Buonarroti, Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne and Leonardo da Vinci’s Bacchus. The quintessence of the traditional iconography of Bacchus is the famous Bacchus by Caravaggio of 1596-1998, commissioned by Francesco Maria Bourbon and dedicated to Ferdinando I de ‘Medici.

The imaginary of the classically inspired wine continues to evolve in art acquiring an increasingly complex psychological introspection. In addition to the above, I can mention Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s’ Bacchanal: faun molested by cupids’, Pieter Paul Rubens’ Satyrs and Diego Velàzquez’s’ Triumph of Bacchus’. Additionally, of great interest are works that deviate from classicism such as Jan Vermeer’s ‘Glass of wine’. From the 1500s and 1600s, wine found a lot of space in art in Flemish and Italian painting: works of art depicting banquets and everyday moments of wine consumption...etc. Wine and grapes are recurring subjects in many representations of Nature Morte by many artists in Italy, Spain and France during the Baroque Period. Virtuous example in Italy can be represented by the works of art by Michelangelo Merisi and Bartolomeo Bimbi in 1700 for example.

Subsequently, starting from 1900, the presence of wine in figurative art has taken very heterogeneous and non (combinable) paths, freeing itself from the practice of classic and stereotyped iconography. Many artists have tried their hand at depicting bottles of wine in their own style: Claude Monet in Impressionism for example, Joan Miró in Surrealism, Picasso in Cubism and De ‘Chirico and Giorgio Morandi in Metaphysics.

Wine in art therefore acquires its own dignity linked primarily to the artist’s sensitivity, to their personal interpretation and intimate bond with it. I do personally find it difficult to pin-point the best wine-themed artwork. However, it remains essential to underline that the best wine-themed work of art is the one that is able to excite us, also by binding itself to contingent situations and unrepeatable and intimate moments of our life. The painting above was depicted by myself, after visiting a renowned local winery cellar whereby we attended a wine tasting event with friends way back in Summer 2015. Indeed, we experienced this truly idyllic setting whilst sampling some of their refined premium wines.

Alex Caruana