Two Styles for rendering grapes

Two Styles for rendering Grapes.

This first image is by a 19th century Italian painter.

For contrast here's a 19th century Japanese print in ukiyo-e style. 

The Italian Oil Painting has beautiful rich colors and you can almost taste the grapes.

The Japanese print lacks shadows but still has tones and a sense of depth creating by the curves plus an element of humor.

Both are masterpieces of still life in different ways .

More images of the grape harvest

Three contrasting images of the grape harvest.

Southern Europe Northern Europe and one from a Chinese text discussing grapes as medicine.

Early Grapes

There is a long tradition in Western and European art of rendering vines and grapes in a variety of media, mosaic, fresco, oils, and carving or moulding. Here is one of the earliest examples of fresco.

Its Roman and we don't know if it was an original work or a copy as a fresco of a wax encaustic work but consider this the pattern of cracking suggests the wet plaster and then the paint was applied in one session ... yes one session and yet the degree of detail ... shadows highlights stems handles ... a still life masterpiece.

Wine Pressing from the Tomb of Nakht

#wine #winemaking #winepress #egyptianpainting #tombofnakht

One of the oldest known paintings if not the oldest I've found so far of grape growing and harvesting.

also of interest as it shows ethnic diversity in ancient egypt with two blonde greeks or northerners or two older egyptians with  sun or aged bleached hair ? and the egyptians having coloring and hairstyles that are NOT all identical!

As I'm doing Dionysus over on my metousia blog I thought I might take a look at images of grapes and wine growing and making in other cultures.

Next time some roman imagery.