Lacryma Christi
Lacryma Christi, (also Lachryma Christi of Vesuvius, literally "tear of Christ"), is the name of a celebrated Neapolitan type of wine produced on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, Italy.
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[edit] Origins of name
The name Lacryma Christi comes from an old myth that Christ, crying over Lucifer'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.
[edit] 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, and by Christopher Marlowe in his play Tamburlaine the Great, Part II. The British periodical writer and journalist William Maginn mentions the wine amongst other spirits in his poem "Inishowen" c. 1822. The Dutch novelist Harry Mulisch mentions the wine together with the island of Capri in his 1987 novel "The Pupil".
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.
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
Dalí, Salvador; Gérard, Max; Orizet, Louis (1977). Les vins de gala. Draeger. pp. 293. ISBN 285119013X.
