Fine silk drape, made by weavers from Lucca in the first half of the 16th century. A rich yellow and red drape decorated with branches of leaves and flowers and a wide border worked with vines and grapes. Grapes are one of the Eucharistic symbols used to decorate fabrics for liturgical garments, they symbolize wine, one of the two components of the Eucharist. This fabric comes from Lucca, famed for its fine cloth, which it had been producing since the 13th century. A goodly part of the economy of the city was based on the production of silk goods and their sale throughout Europe. Companies of merchants imported raw silk from the Middle East, using highly-skilled weavers to produce the cloth they then sold.