Wine Culture in the Thyssen- Bornemisza Collection
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THEMATIC ROUTES This tour is sponsored by the Fundación para la Cultura del Vino Wine Linked both to religious rituals and everyday life, the prerogative of the rich and powerful and consolation of the ill-fated, a vehicle for social Culture in interaction, an object of economic exchange, stimulation for the senses, a wellspring of good health… wine has always been an important source the Thyssen- of artistic inspiration. It would be hard to understand mankind’s cultu- ral history without wine for it is a gift from Nature that speaks directly Bornemisza to senses, hearts and minds. An acquaintance with this, the most civili - sed of beverages and fruit of an ancient tradition, can lead to new expe - Collection riences in our encounters with other people and places and — also like art — invite us to enjoy life to the full. Juan Pan-Montojo y Teresa de la Vega This tour examines different aspects of the history of wine while fo - llowing an enjoyable, very special route through the Museum’s perma - nent collection. The pictures along the way span the period between 1509 and 1919, four centuries that start with what we might call local, empirical knowledge of wine making and finish with the birth of today’s industry and its scientific approach to viticulture and oenology. ROOM 8 one of the most important figures in German Renaissance art, Lucas Cranach LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER was a firm believer in the ideas of the Kronach, 1472–Weimar, 1553 Reformation. His friendship with Luther, The Virgin with Child with however, in no way deterred him from a Bunch of Grapes, c. 1509-10 painting religious scenes for a Catholic Oil on panel. 71.5 x 44.2 cm clientele. Here the artist depicted the Vir- inv. 114 (1936.1) gin in the foreground, her softly outlined and modelled face recalling Leonardo’s technique of sfumato. Cranach signed the painting on the low wall behind the Virgin with his usual winged serpent sym- bol. Another noteworthy detail is a tiny, almost imperceptible figure climbing up Wine Culture in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection THEMATIC ROUTES 2 the steep path whom some have identified The central role, together with bread, as Saint Joseph. played by wine in the Eucharist made it an The symbol which most immediate- essential element of worship and for this ly draws our attention, however, is the reason grapes were grown wherever Chris- bunch of grapes in the Virgin’s hand — a tian places of worship were established. reference to the Eucharist and Christ’s In the 13th century, however, the pres- role as the Redeemer. ence of both ingredients together ceased In Christianity, as in Judaism and the to be obligatory for communion among pagan religions of Classical times, the vine common folk and only necessary when was of special significance. Traditions consecration by a priest was required. inherited from Egypt and Mesopotamia In this respect, the Protestant reformers and reflected in the Bible describe wine as made no changes yet did recommend that a key symbol of joy, life and fertility and the faithful commune with both while a special gift from God to man. There are sharing the same cup so that all Chris - references to the vine, with its tendrils, tians, even those who lived in areas where leaves and fruit and to vineyards and grapes were not grown, would associate wine in many metaphors and parables the symbols connected with the vine with in both the Old and New Testaments: the promise of everlasting life. according to some estimates the Bible In similar contexts, bunches of grapes mentions wine and vines almost four are featured in two other works from the hundred times. Such frequency is due to Collection, both in Room 20: The Holy the fact that the Scriptures were originally Family with an Angel by Jacob Jordaens intended for folk who were familiar with and his workshop (c. 1625-29) and The the techniques involved in wine growing Holy Family with Saints and Angels and making. (c. 1606-10) by Joachim Antonisz Wtewael. ROOM 9 this portrait contains a number of by Charles V a year before this portrait fascinating details: the glass on the window was painted. CHRISTOPH AMBERGER sill is a reference to Schwarz’s background Wine has been traded from the earli- Nuremberg, c. 1505–Augsburg, 1562 as the son of a wine merchant, while a est of times. In a cereal-producing com- Portrait of Matthäus Schwarz, 1542 sheet of paper nearby states the sitter’s munity the bulk of the harvest can be Oil on panel. 73.5 x 61 cm date and time of birth, the date when the consumed locally but this is not the case inv. 4 (1935.1) portrait was painted and Schwarz’s age with wine: “Grape harvests cannot be at that time — forty-five years and thirty drunk in the same way as crop harvests days — all entries that correspond to his can be eaten,” said the French historian horoscope, which is featured in the clouds Camille-Ernest Labrousse (1895-1988) visible through the window. some decades ago. To this singular character we owe the With the fall of the Roman Empire wine production of an interesting book known production and consumption experienced as the Trachtenbuch (now in the Herzog a marked decline in the West, but did not Anton Ulrich-Museum, Brunswick). This disappear altogether thanks to the mon- biographical manuscript contains one asteries and local nobles. In line with hundred and thirty-seven illustrations of general trends in trade expansion, wine the most important events in Schwarz’s transactions increased steadily from the life and also tells of the aversion to stud- 16th century, when a revival of Roman ying which led his father to seek him agronomic techniques spread in ways that employment with the family firm as a contributed to changes in cultural and wine taster at the tender age of fifteen. wine growing practices. He subsequently enjoyed a successful As wine merchants came from all social career as accountant to the powerful Fug- levels, Schwartz’s wealthy father, who was ger family of bankers and was ennobled highly-placed in Augsburg, had little in Wine Culture in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection THEMATIC ROUTES 3 common with vintners who drove mules fortunes and modern estates, components or ran taverns. However, in many coun- of mercantile capital which would help tries the industry as a whole can be said pave the way for industrial capital in the to have formed the foundations for large 18th century. ROOM 6 this magnificent panel formed a his poverty, and remember his misery no triptych whose central motif may have more.” (Prov. 31: 6-7). ANONYMOUS GERMAN ARTIST been a group of free-standing painted Attributed with therapeutic properties, (active in Swabia c. 1515) wooden sculptures. The two wing panels wine was also included among the food Saint Elizabeth offering Bread depict Saint Anne, the Virgin and the items distributed to the poor and sick, and Wine to Two Beggars Christ Child (an iconographic theme one of the various reasons for this being (exterior right wing), c. 1515 known as the “Triple Anna” very pop - that many religious institutions, especially Oil on panel. 159.5 x 65.5 cm ular in Germany in the 15th and 16th Mediterranean convents and monasteries, inv. 267.b (1955.2.2.b) centuries) and Saint Elizabeth of Hun- held reserves of wine produced by their gary (who lived in the first half of the own vineyards. Furthermore, wine with 13th century) with her attributes: a small bread was a symbol of the Christian Eu- loaf of bread and a jug of water which charistic and given together combined ma- she offers to cripples who sit at her feet, terial and spiritual salvation. Thirdly, in a and a comb referring to her role as the world without water purification systems, patron saint of those who suffer from where local supplies, particularly in towns ringworm. From the Middle Ages wine and villages, often left much to be desired was a common feature in the charitable and even helped spread disease, wine was practices of convents and monasteries considered a healthy drink whose purity and on the food lists of hospitals, asylums was guaranteed when certain conditions and hospices, being regarded not as su- were met. Recent studies have shown that perfluous but rather as comforting and adding a certain amount of wine to water nutritious. As the biblical proverb says: (once a widespread practice) can actually Give strong drink unto him that is ready kill the bacteria that cause typhoid fever. to perish, and wine unto those that be of In a Europe without sewers wine played heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget a major preventive role. ROOM 11 in christian tradition it is at the Master of the Virgo inter Virgines (c. 1485), Last Supper where with bread wine as- depicts Jesus and the Apostles in a late- ANONYMOUS VENETIAN ARTIST sumes its greatest symbolic role at the Gothic setting while in this Venetian can- (active c. 1570) very centre of the rite of the Eucharist. vas the Last Supper has been transferred The Last Supper, c. 1570 As artists often depicted the scene with to an Italian Renaissance palazzo, as is Oil on canvas. 121 x 190 cm settings typical of their own age, it is not evident in both the architectural elements inv. 17 (1934.5) surprising that this one does not coincide in the background and the arrangement historically with that of the original Cena- of the table and servants.