Lacryma Christi () or Lachryma Christi of Vesuvius is the name of a Neapolitan type of

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

produced on the slopes of

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of ...

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. White Lacryma Christi is made mainly from Verdeca and Coda di Volpe grapes, with smaller proportions of Falanghina, CaprettoneJ. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pg 185 Allen Lane 2012 and Greco di Tufo included. Red Lacryma Christi is made from

Piedirosso Piedirosso is a red Italian wine grape variety that is planted primarily in the Campania region. The grape is considered a specialty of the region, being used to produce wines for local and tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; ...

and Sciascinoso grapes. It is also, as archaeologists have discovered, the nearest equivalent to wine drunk by the Ancient Romans, having analysed microscopic residue left on the taps of the casks.

Origins of name

The name Lacryma Christi comes from an old myth that

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, crying over

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...

's fall from heaven, cried his tears on the land and gave divine inspiration to the vines that grew there. The sides of Vesuvius are deeply scarred by past lava flows, and its lower slopes are extremely fertile, dotted with villages and covered with vineyards.

Lacryma Christi in literature and media

Lacryma Christi is an old wine, frequently mentioned by poets and writers. Lacryma Christi was mentioned in the book by Alexandre Dumas, '' The Count of Monte Cristo'', in W. J. Turner's poem ''Talking with Soldiers'', in '' Candide'' by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

, and by Christopher Marlowe in his play '' Tamburlaine the Great, Part II''. The Irish periodical writer and journalist

William Maginn William Maginn (10 July 1794 – 21 August 1842) was an Irish journalist and writer. About Born at Cork he became a contributor to ''Blackwood's Magazine'', and after moving to London in 1824 became for a few months in 1826 the Paris correspon ...

mentions the wine amongst other spirits in his poem "Inishowen" c. 1822. In the late work of the German novelist

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...

"Der Stechlin" (1898) the wine is mentioned to be served after lunch in a convent and is characterized to be of higher grade than a

Montefiascone Montefiascone is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, central Italy. It stands on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena, about north of Rome. History The name of the city derives from that of the Falisci (''Mons Fa ...

. Hart Crane wrote a poem titled "Lachrymae Christi" included in his 1926 debut collection ''

White Buildings ''White Buildings'' was the first collection (1926) of poetry by Hart Crane, an American modernist poet, critical to both lyrical and language poetic traditions. The book features well-known pieces like "For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen," ...

''. The Dutch novelist Harry Mulisch mentions the wine together with the island of Capri in his 1987 novel ''The Pupil''. In the short story "Rappaccini's Daughter" collected in

Mosses from an Old Manse ''Mosses from an Old Manse'' is a short story collection by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1846. Background and publication history The collection includes several previously published short stories, and was named in honor of The Old Mans ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

, a glass of lachryma is drunk by the protagonist "which caused his brain to swim with strange fantasies". In the 1954 movie, '' Three Coins in the Fountain'', Lacryma Christi is mentioned as being the favorite wine of Prince Dino di Cessi, played by actor

Louis Jourdan Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Lett ...

. In

The Great Warrior Skanderbeg ''The Great Warrior Skanderbeg'' ( al, Luftëtari i madh i Shqipërisë Skënderbeu; russian: Великий воин Албании Скандербег, Velikiy voin Albanii Skanderbeg) is a 1953 Soviet-Albanian biopic directed by Sergei Yutk ...

, a Soviet-Albanian production of 1953, the wine is mentioned as a symbol of feudal luxury enjoyed by sybaritic enemies of the protagonist, the popular and prudent ruler of Albania who defeated Venice in the 1447-48 war and stalled the advance of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. When Skanderbeg's nephew,

Hamza Kastrioti Hamza Kastrioti ( la, Ameses Castriota) or Bernardo Kastrioti (after his conversion to Christianity), was a 15th-century Albanian nobleman and the nephew of George Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Probably born in Ottoman territory, after the death of his ...

, joins the Ottomans against his country, a Venetian diplomat tells him that "gifts from Venice have arrived in

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

for you: golden cups for your table, and the best wine of Venice, Lacryma Christi -- The Tears of Christ." In the title story of

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

's 1964 collection The Machineries of Joy, an Irish priest squabbles with his Italian colleague over space travel and its place in their faith; the two clerics reconcile over a bottle of Lacryma Christi while watching a televised rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. Jean-Paul Didierlaurent mentions the wine in his novel ''The reader on the 6.27'' (2014): "... getting drunk on Christ's tears was the best thing that could happen to a Christian."

Origins of name

Lacryma Christi in literature and media

References

Further reading