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Fact Sheet |
Gift of the Gods
The story of wine from Antiquity to Modern Europe
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto organized Gift of the Gods to help visitors learn more about the myths, symbols and traditions associated with wine, wine drinking and their 7,000 year history. This richly textured story is brought to life by 250 outstanding wine-related artifacts, the majority from ROM collections, with additions from the collections of Brock University and Wilfrid Laurier University. The following are highlights of all the areas of the exhibition developed by the ROM.
Dionysos - wine personified
For the Ancient Greeks, wine came to life through the god Dionysos. He was a complex figure, who allegedly civilized Greece through viticulture, but who also inspired drunkenness, madness and wild rituals. Consuming wine meant drinking the god and being possessed by him. The Ancient Greeks widely embraced Dionysos, and vividly portrayed him in their art, particularly on striking black-figure and red-figure vases. The god's mythological companions, such as the maenads (his ecstatic women followers) and satyrs (half-goat and half-man), are also featured widely in art works inspired by wine drinking.
With the rise of Christianity, images of Dionysos virtually disappeared in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. However, a rejuvenated Dionysos emerged from the Renaissance. Although no longer a religious figure, Dionysos and his entourage continued to be a rich source of inspiration for European artists for many generations. The god was to remain a favourite subject for artists working in all media, including the famed eighteenth-century English potter, Josiah Wedgwood. During the nineteenth century, artists continued to use Dionysian images, but primarily for decorative purposes.
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Porcelain Figurine of Dionysos – Royal Ontario Museum Soft-paste porcelain English, Chelsea, circa 1755 Bequest of Gerald R. Larkin 961.123.36b |
Wine in the ancient world
Wine originated at least 7,000 years ago somewhere in the highlands of northeastern Turkey and northwestern Iran, where the wild grape vine grew. By about 6,000 B.C., people were tending this vine in its domesticated form (Vitis vinifera sativa). Archaeological evidence dating from 5,500 to 5,000 B.C. shows that people were quick to discover the potential of fermenting the grapes.
From their beginnings in small Neolithic villages in this mountainous region, the domesticated vine and wine gradually migrated to the south and west. However, civilizations in the Near East regarded wine as a luxury. Most Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians drank beer.
It was the Greeks who democratized wine, so that it was no longer just a drink for the rich and powerful. No culture before the Greeks had embraced wine so completely and enthusiastically. As the Greeks expanded their trade, they took wine to Gaul, southern Italy, and eventually to Rome. The Greeks transported wine in heavy clay containers (amphorae) lined with pine pitch. Most of these commercial amphorae would hold 15 to 20 litres.
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Kottabos, Drinking Game - Royal Ontario Museum Red-figure kylix Greek, Attic, circa 470 B.C. Sigmund Samuel Collection 919.5.23 |
The Romans inherited viticulture from the Etruscans and from the Greeks in southern Italy and Sicily. By A.D. 1, each person in the city of Rome drank an average of about half a litre of wine a day.
Wine became the pre-eminent beverage in the Roman world, with millions of barrels produced in Roman vineyards and imported from abroad to satisfy the great demand. By the first century B.C., viticulture was a big business in Rome and its territories. The Romans took viticulture with them to Spain, France and Germany. For example, they planted the vineyards of the Rhine and Moselle Valleys shortly after A.D. 200. The Romans also brought order and organization to wine production, propping or trellising their vines and making improvements to the Greek presses for extracting the juice.
Both the Greeks and the Romans mixed water with their wine. In addition, they added sea-water, resins, herbs, spices, honey and perfume.
A new era for wine in Europe
Advances in wine-making during the eighteenth century - in cultivating grapes, bottling and aging - ushered in a new era of superior wines. French producers were the first to elevate the practice of wine-making to an art. By 1700, the clarets from Château Lafite were in great demand in London.
Before the 1700s, wine merchants had to market their product quickly. This was because wine turns to vinegar when exposed to oxygen, and the wooden barrels used for transporting and storing wine would easily let oxygen in. This situation changed dramatically in Europe around 1700 when vintners realized that wine could mature safely and very well in glass bottles lying on their side and sealed with cork. The bottle, combined with the wine glass, also meant that wine could be served more elegantly and easily. The wine bottle thus began to take on a history of its own, with a great variety of distinctive shapes and styles.
Cork makes an ideal seal for wine because it is sturdy, yet light and airtight. A cork will last about 25 years, provided it stays moist and in contact with the wine. The first reference to the corkscrew was in 1681, when it was described as a "steel worm used for drawing of cork out of bottles." The screw or helix used today was designed centuries ago.
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Sleeping Silenos – Royal Ontario Museum Marble statue Roman, after a Hellenistic work of the 3rd century B.C. Gift of the Louise Hawley Stone Charitable Trust 999.116.1 |
Wine glasses and accoutrements through the ages
The exhibition's stunning display of artifacts illustrates the development of wine glasses and accoutrements from the Middle Ages to modern times. Among the many exquisite creations on display are Venetian wine glasses dating from the early 1600s, wheel-engraved goblets from seventeenth-century Bohemia, eighteenth-century German glasses with portraits or crests of important people, a striking selection of English and Irish decanters, and exquisite creations by Tiffany inspired by the early iridescent glass of Rome.
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Venetian Glass Wine Goblet – Royal Ontario Museum Early 17th century 907.5.19 |
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