New Wine in Ancient Wineskins: The Evidence from Attic Vases

IN A FAMOUS PARABLE, Jesus said, in the words of the gospel of Luke: "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins."1 This paper does not deal with the theological implications of these statements but instead discusses the early stages of the process of making wine and the use of wineskins during this process, a matter that has not received sufficient attention. The main evidence comes from a red-figured psykter in the Getty Museum, which has been attributed to the vase painter Smikros.2 The production and procurement of wine was of considerable interest to the Attic vase painters, whose products were largely used at drinking parties. A famous stamnos by Smikros in Brussels3 shows in front a symposium scene and on the back two servants filling a large dinos on a stand (P1. 29:a). On the left a youth named Euarchos has just arrived with a fresh supply of wine and greets his companion on the right, a bearded man, Euelthon, who has placed his amphora on the ground and seems to be waiting. Both wear cloaks wrapped around their middles: they are clearly servants. On the ground stand two jugs, from which the wine will eventually be dispensed to the company on the other side of the stamnos. Several scholars have pointed out that this vase is heavily indebted to a more recently discovered calyx-krater by Euphronios in Munich.4 The similarity includes the reverse.