id:			147579
accession number:	1973.77
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1973.77
updated:		2023-05-31 11:29:57.999000

The Mystical Grapes, c. 1500. Flanders, possibly Bruges. Wool, silk, silver thread; tapestry weave; overall: 79 x 75.9 cm (31 1/8 x 29 7/8 in.); framed: 102.2 x 99.7 cm (40 1/4 x 39 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1973.77

title:				The Mystical Grapes
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1500
creation date earliest:		1495
creation date latest:		1505
current location:		
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Flanders, possibly Bruges
technique:	Wool, silk, silver thread; tapestry weave
department:	Textiles
collection:	Textiles
type:		Tapestry
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 79 x 75.9 cm (31 1/8 x 29 7/8 in.); Framed: 102.2 x 99.7 cm (40 1/4 x 39 1/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Textiles in Daily Life in the Middle Ages
	opening date:   1985-01-22T05:00:00
	<i>Textiles in Daily Life in the Middle Ages</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 22-March 17, 1985).

	title:		Only for Beauty? (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115
	opening date:   2014-12-08T05:00:00
	<i>Only for Beauty? (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 2014-December 7, 2015).

	title:		Art of Embroidery in Late Medieval Europe (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115
	opening date:   2020-12-19T05:00:00
	<i>Art of Embroidery in Late Medieval Europe (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 19, 2020-April 11, 2021).

	title:		The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England
	opening date:   2023-02-26T05:00:00
	<i>The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (co-organizer) (February 26-May 14, 2023).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

	Spitzer Collection; Economas Collection; Mortimer Schiff Collection; (Spencer A. Samuels & Co., Ltd.)
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
Henry VIII owned many little tapestries, even commissioning London-made copies after European originals owned by Katherine of Aragon. With its small scale and extraordinary details, this piece was intended to be appreciated as an aid to private devotions. Locking eyes with the infant Christ, the fruit of the Virgin’s womb (represented by the pomegranate in the glass), the user contemplated Christ’s fate to die as savior of the world. The Christ child is flanked by the Virgin Mary and Joseph, and behind them three angels read from an open book. He squeezes grapes into a chalice, symbolizing the gift of his own blood for the redemption of humankind.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Wardwell, Anne E. "The Mystical Grapes, a Devotional Tapestry." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 62, no. 1 (1975): 17-23.
	page number: 	p. 17-23
	url:		www.jstor.org/stable/25152571.

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 81
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n101

	Martin Nagy, Rebecca. Textiles in Daily Life in the Middle Ages. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1985.
	page number: 	p. 28, 30-31, 58
	url:		

	Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and Adolph S. Cavallo. Medieval Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993.
	page number: 	p. 337, fig. 337
	url:		

	Cleland, Elizabeth. "Small-Scale Devotional Tapestries—Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, Part 2: The “Mystic Grapes Group”." <em>Studies in the Decorative Arts</em> 16, no. 2 (2009): 141-64.
	page number: 	p. 141-64
	url:		https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/652508

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_full.tif