ARCIMBOLDO, Giuseppe, Featured Paintings in Detail, (2)

ARCIMBOLDO, Giuseppe
Air
c. 1566
Oil on canvas, 74 x 56 cm
Private collection, Switzerland

Air (detail)
c. 1566
Private collection, Switzerland

Featured Paintings in Detail
(2)
(Allegories of the Seasons and the Elements)

Autumn
1573
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Autumn (detail)
1573
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Earth
1566
Oil on panel, 70 x 49 cm
Private collection

Earth (detail)
1566
Oil on panel, 70 x 49 cm
Private collection

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Giuseppe, Featured Paintings in Detail (2)
(Allegories of the Seasons and the Elements)
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Earth
The composition of the head out of various creatures, its profile view, approximate dimensions, and support all
correspond to the series of Seasons and Elements. Earth is the most complex of either series. Like the other paintings in
both series, it can be identified as an imperial allegory: this suggests that the emperor rules over the elements and the
seasons.
Many studies of animals by Arcimboldo exist, and many of these studies were used as sources for the creatures seen in
Earth. All the animals in the head were taken from life, because the emperor gave Arcimboldo permission to draw
creatures in his menageries.
This version of the Earth was made for Maximilian II, or possibly Rudolf II. However, while there is no doubt about its
authenticity, discrepancies with Water and Fire of 1566 do exist as far its dimensions, and more fluid handling are
concerned, so it is possible that it might not have belonged to the original series of Elements.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was an Italian Renaissance painter known for his intricate paintings, which
combined inanimate or found objects into a portrait that would resemble the portrait subject.
In 1562, he became the court painter to Ferdinand I of Vienna, and later for Maximilien II and his son
Rudolph II of Prague. At this time, he was also employed as the court decorator and costume designer.
Most of Arcimboldo’s remaining works are of collected objects, which have been assembled to
resemble people. He used fruits, flowers, vegetables, fish, and books, and other things, (among them
slabs of meat), and arranged them in such a way as to not only resemble a person, but the person’s
resemblance as well.
Due to his strange rendition of the human figure, there is a debate among art critics as to whether or not
Arcimboldo’s paintings are the work of a deranged mind. A more likely explanation, however, is that the
paintings are a product of the Renaissance era in which he lived, which was fascinated with riddles,
puzzles, and the bizarre. If this was the case, then Arcimboldo’s strange depictions were only just
catering to the tastes of the time.
Many of his works were taken from Prague during the Thirty Years War by the invading Swedish army,
and Arcimboldo was almost completely lost to history. His works were only just rediscovered at the
beginning of the 20th century by the Surrealist painters, including Salvador Dali, who were heavily
influenced by the artist’s unique style.

ARCIMBOLDO, Giuseppe, Featured Paintings in Detail, (2)

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