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This tapestry illustrates the symbolic relationship between wine and Christ’s blood that forms a central belief of the Catholic faith. Flanked by the Virgin Mary and Joseph, the Christ child squeezes grapes into a chalice, symbolizing the gift of his blood for the redemption of humankind. With its small scale, luxurious metallic threads, and extraordinary detail, the tapestry was intended to aid in private devotion. Locking eyes with the infant Christ, the fruit of the Virgin’s womb (represented by the pomegranate in the glass), the user would contemplate Christ’s fate.

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Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
24b3dcd7a8b7026f
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
147579
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "147579",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "The Mystical Grapes",
    "description": "This tapestry illustrates the symbolic relationship between wine and Christ’s blood that forms a central belief of the Catholic faith. Flanked by the Virgin Mary and Joseph, the Christ child squeezes grapes into a chalice, symbolizing the gift of his blood for the redemption of humankind. With its small scale, luxurious metallic threads, and extraordinary detail, the tapestry was intended to aid in private devotion. Locking eyes with the infant Christ, the fruit of the Virgin’s womb (represented by the pomegranate in the glass), the user would contemplate Christ’s fate.",
    "date": "c. 1500",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1973.77",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q79926986"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Tapestry"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "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.)",
    "cul": [
        "Flanders, possibly Bruges"
    ],
    "accession": "1973.77"
}

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Document identity
{
    "localId": "147579",
    "label": "The Mystical Grapes",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "147579",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "The Mystical Grapes",
    "description": "This tapestry illustrates the symbolic relationship between wine and Christ’s blood that forms a central belief of the Catholic faith. Flanked by the Virgin Mary and Joseph, the Christ child squeezes grapes into a chalice, symbolizing the gift of his blood for the redemption of humankind. With its small scale, luxurious metallic threads, and extraordinary detail, the tapestry was intended to aid in private devotion. Locking eyes with the infant Christ, the fruit of the Virgin’s womb (represented by the pomegranate in the glass), the user would contemplate Christ’s fate.",
    "date": "c. 1500",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1973.77",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q79926986"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Tapestry"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "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.)",
    "cul": [
        "Flanders, possibly Bruges"
    ],
    "accession": "1973.77"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "Wool, silk, silver thread; tapestry weave",
    "tombstone": "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",
    "collection": "Textiles",
    "didYouKnow": "Tapestries were among the most expensive material goods in the medieval and early modern periods. Nevertheless, they were ubiquitous among the upper echelons of society who used them to decorate and warm their drafty living spaces.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "“The Year in Review for 1973.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 61, no. 2 ( February 1974): 31–78. <br>Published as: <em>The Eucharist</em>",
            "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 34; Mentioned: p. 78, no. 165",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25152513"
        },
        {
            "citation": "“Annual Report for 1973.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 61, no. 6 (June 1974): 179–213. <br>Published as: <em>The Eucharist</em>",
            "page_number": "Mentioned: p. 192",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25152530"
        },
        {
            "citation": "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."
        },
        {
            "citation": "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"
        },
        {
            "citation": "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"
        },
        {
            "citation": "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"
        },
        {
            "citation": "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"
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1973.77",
    "creditline": "John L. Severance Fund",
    "updatedAt": "2026-06-18 19:01:02.048000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 147579,
    "dept": "Textiles",
    "coll": "Textiles",
    "med": "Wool, silk, silver thread; tapestry weave",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1973.77/1973.77_web.jpg",
    "mediaId": "24b3dcd7a8b7026f"
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