Last week we showed the work of an artist who uses human bodies to create portraits of plants – today it is the other way around – where portraits of people are formed of fruit, vegetables and occasionally other things. Today’s artist is a little less contemporary. The Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo was employed at the Habsburg Court in Vienna from 1562 to 1587. During this time he worked for a succession of emperors: Ferdinand 1, Maximilian II, and Rudolf II. This particular painting was for Maximilian and it was typical of a number of fantastical allegorical portraits he created this way. Unlike his other works, these compositions have stood the test of time, remaining classic artworks today. This version of Spring can be seen at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the remaining artworks are spread worldwide. The detail is quite astonishing, the complimentary colouring beautiful, and the choice of plants is of course fascinating. Is that a Camellia for his ear? Species list anyone?
