Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526-1593) was an Italian Mannerist painter who remains in history as the author of "metamorphic" portraits, the faces of which are made up of various flowers, vegetables and fruits. But why it was necessary to write such portraits, how Arcimboldo reached this idea, why he was considered a "wicked heretic" and the place where he lived tried to avoid, we will tell you in this article.
Four seasons in one portrait
Arcimboldo loved nature more than anything else in the world, and it was because of this love that he created his amazing paintings. He laid out a kind of mosaic of flowers, fruits and vegetables, for which every day from early morning went to the market to buy fresh. It turned out to be truly original and unusual, no one else had anything like it, and his work and attracted rich customers and patrons - for example, Arcimboldo 26 years fulfilled orders for the Habsburgs and Emperor Rudolf II.
Flora
True, after the death of the artist, everyone forgot about him, but in the XX century interest in the works of Arcimboldo again burst with renewed vigour. Perhaps it is the crisis of ideas and the unwillingness of many talented artists to repeat the hackneyed subjects, which before them have already been created hundreds of times. It is not by chance that the Surrealists considered Arcimboldo's work one of their main sources of inspiration, and Salvador Dalí said that he was the forerunner of Surrealism.
Waiter (Still Life with a Barrel)
Giuseppe Arcimboldo was born in Milan and from his youth worked in the studio of his artist father, where he learnt the basics of the craft. He was a talented boy, grasping everything on the fly and attracted the attention of King Ferdinand, who was passing through Milan. He ordered him to write five coats of arms, the work was done well and on time, and Ferdinand remembered it. Soon he became Holy Roman Emperor with virtually unlimited power and invited Archimboldo to the post of court portraitist - the most honourable and desirable for any artist at the time. Arcimboldo, of course, accepted. True, reigned Ferdinand not long - only two years, but his successor Maximilian II Archimboldo favoured, so the artist did not have to complain about life. In addition to the standard pompous and pompous coronation portraits, he began to paint his famous mosaics, in particular, a series of paintings "Seasons".
Four Seasons. Summer
However, painting for Arcimboldo was not the main occupation at court - he organised all sorts of festivals and jousting tournaments, showing in this case just-so-unbridled imagination. These were not boring decent officious events, but fiery parties, for which Arcimboldo personally created decorations, costumes and masks.
After Maximilian II, Rudolf II came to the throne - a man of great strangeness and a lover of collecting all sorts of curiosities. He even had a unicorn horn, a mandrake root and nails from Noah's Ark in his collection. Of course, all these were only skilfully made fakes, but the emperor himself sincerely believed in their authenticity. It is not surprising that Arcimboldo's "metaphorical paintings" looked more than organic there, the artist became its caretaker, and at the same time was searching for something quite unusual.
Librarian
As Rudolf II grew older, he became increasingly withdrawn and unsociable. He had little to do with affairs of state, and preferred the company of courtiers to all sorts of sorcerers, astrologers and other charlatans, among whom Arcimboldo reigned supreme. They all settled in the same street, and other citizens tried to avoid it. There were also bad rumours about the artist - he painted a portrait of a girl, who soon by an unfortunate coincidence drowned in the river. People said that Arcimboldo's portraits were cursed and they should all be burned, and at the same time to be sure with them and the artist.
Fortunately, Rudolf II did not believe the accusations, but to work and communicate with him became increasingly difficult - the character of the Emperor has become quite unbearable and you can never know what will go into his head next time. Archimboldo asked Rudolf to let him go home, in return promising to paint new pictures and "contribute to the fulfilment of all his wishes and whims".
Flora (Flora meretrix)
Arcimboldo returned home to Milan rich and with the opportunity to create in a quiet environment. This immediately favoured the quality of his paintings, for example, he painted Flora and Portrait of Rudolf II as Vertumnus. By the way, Vertumn is the god of harvest, fruit and abundance, so it is not surprising that Rudolf agreed with this interpretation of his image and liked the portrait very much.
Vertumnus. Portrait of Emperor Rudolf II as Vertumnus
Arcimboldo continued to live in Milan until his death from urolithiasis, which thwarted many of his plans, notably to paint a "metaphorical portrait of Christ". But his legacy is enough to call him a truly extraordinary artist.
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author of the article Mikhail Fedorin
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