Grapevine Garden, Galatians 5:22 Fruit of the Spirit Wall Art

Through the garden door

Two pillars of pale limestone frame a narrow wooden door painted a weathered blue gray, fitted with black iron hinges and a ring handle. It stands half open. On the left, a twisting grapevine climbs the stone and arches over the top, hung with clusters of purple grapes. On the right, a fig tree spreads broad lobed leaves and ripe violet figs.

Through the opening you glimpse stone steps, a low wall with a terracotta pot of greenery, and tall cypresses against the light. In front, a woven basket overflows with purple and green grapes and a few figs, with loose grapes scattered on the path. The words run across the top in one line: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace”, and below it Galatians 5:22.

What are the fruits of the Spirit?

Paul's list continues after the three words on the poster. In the King James Version there are nine in all: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. Modern translations often render the last ones as patience, kindness, faithfulness and self-control. Paul closes the list with a dry remark: against such things there is no law.

The word fruit is singular. Paul is not describing nine separate prizes to collect, but one harvest with many flavors, all growing from the same life. He sets it against the works of the flesh listed just before (strife, envy, drunkenness and the like), which are things people do. Fruit, by contrast, is what grows when a branch stays connected to its source, an image close to Jesus' words about the vine and the branches in John 15.

The painting borrows another biblical picture too. In Micah and elsewhere, sitting under one's own vine and fig tree is the image of peace and security. Grapes and figs together were the ordinary wealth of a household in the land of Israel.

In the kitchen or for a confirmation

The ripe fruit and garden greens make this watercolor right for a kitchen, a breakfast nook or a sunroom. It is also a thoughtful confirmation gift, since the gifts and fruits of the Spirit are often taught during confirmation preparation, and a good choice for a baptism.