Square with a Grape Harvesting Scene

This charming vignette depicts two grape harvesters in an arbor. One man kneels, holding a basket of grapes, while a seated man picks grapes and places them in the basket. Scenes of the vintage would have appealed to a wide audience. Such an image could be read as an evocation of pastoral poetry and an illustration of a classical education. Depending on the viewer, it could recall the god Dionysos, who was closely associated with the cultivation of grapes, or Christ, who described himself as the vine (John 15:1–5). Images of the harvest were popular on both pagan and Christian sepulchral art.

Credit: Gift of George D. Pratt, 1929