Artist · 3 prints
Giuseppe Arcimboldo Prints
About Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (about 1526–1593) was an Italian painter born in Milan, where he is first recorded in 1549 working with his father, Biagio, on decorations for Milan Cathedral. In 1562 he was called to the Habsburg court in Vienna under Emperor Ferdinand I, and he went on to serve Maximilian II and Rudolf II, following Rudolf's court to Prague. He also designed court festivals. He was allowed to return to Milan in 1587, received a noble title from Rudolf in 1592, and died in Milan on 11 July 1593.
Arcimboldo is famous for his composite heads, portraits built entirely from fruit, vegetables, flowers, animals or objects. His series The Seasons (1563), painted for Maximilian II, and The Four Elements (by 1566) turn each theme into a face made of the things that belong to it. His late Vertumnus (1591) shows Rudolf II as the Roman god of the seasons. Salvador Dalí and the Surrealists rediscovered Arcimboldo in the twentieth century.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo prints: reproductions of the composite portraits the Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo made in the sixteenth century, during and after his years at the Habsburg court. The collection includes Rudolf II of Habsburg or Vertumnus (1591), Four Seasons in One Head (1590) and The Lawyer (1566).
This selection focuses on his heads built from other things: fruit, vegetables and flowers in Vertumnus, a tree trunk and seasonal plants in Four Seasons in One Head, and plucked poultry, fish and books in The Lawyer. Each one reads as a portrait from a distance and as a still life up close.
The bright fruit and vegetable colours of Vertumnus suit kitchens and dining rooms; the stranger heads make a good talking point in a hallway, study or office. All prints are museum-quality reproductions, available unframed or framed with low-glare acrylic glazing, with free shipping and import duties covered.
