Mannerism

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Arcimboldo was the painter and general factotum for the court of the Holy Roman Empire in Prague from 1562 to 1587. He worked under three Holy Roman Emperors.

The above self-portrait was created about 1575, is done with blue ink and ink wash on prepared blue paper, 23 × 16 cm; this was Arcimboldo's favorite medium for sketching. The picture is now in National Gallery in Prague.

Arcimboldo was one of the first, or maybe the first renaissance painter to be more interested in objects other than people. Of course, all his pictures of things are pictures of people.

One can view this interest in painting things as evolving, during the next 20 years—at the beginning of the Baroque era—into in what is now called the still-life picture. That is, a picture of flowers and vegetables without people. See the relatively unknown Roman artist Francesco Zucci, who brought Arcimboldo's witty style to Rome.

At about the same time Caravaggio began to paint realistic still-life pictures. This may have been prompted by seeing the Zucci pictures or maybe he knew about the Arcimboldo pictures since they were well known by 1600. But more likely Caravaggio was using fruit as an exercise trying to copy images projected by a concave mirror. Fruit don't move much during a session of painting.

A short note on pictures in this gallery.

Many pictures in this gallery are heavily restored. This is because most of Arcimboldo's pictures have not been treated well by museums. The restorations shown in this gallery try to return the pictures original colors where those colors are hidden behind layers of dirt and badly yellowed shellac.

Here are two thumbnails to give you an idea of the difference.

Note that all the pictures throughout this museum are restored to some extent or another; that's one of the reasons it is called a virtual museum. But the changes in the images here tend to be slightly more dramatic.

In a similar way, the light blue prepared paper Arcimbolo used for his sketches is now yellow with age and his blue ink has turned black. But in this museum you will see them closer to the way he experienced them. For an example see his self-portrait above.

Let's follow Arcimboldo's career and the events in the Habsburg family which controlled the Holy Roman Empire. Interspersed are sample Arcimboldo pictures.

Born in Milan. Mother is Chiara Parisi. Father is Biagio Arcimboldo, a painter. The family traces itself back to Southern Germany. The Italian spelling of the name is: Arcimboldi, the German spelling is: Arcimboldo.

Maximilian II born in Habichtburg, Switzerland, as heir to the Holy Roman Empire.

Probably the date that Arcimboldo's father dies.

Many of the Milan cathedral windows are designed by Arcimboldo but it is unknown which ones are his. We do know he was paid for the designs for many.

Moves to Vienna at the request of Ferdinand I, the Holy Roman Emperor, where he is appointed to the court as portrait artist and copyist.

Maximilian as crowned King of Bohemia. Rudolph II, his son, would be about age 10 at this point.

Winter
1563
oil on wood; 66 × 50 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Vienna, Austria

Spring
1563
oil on wood; 84 × 57 cm
Prado, Madrid, Spain

Summer
1563
oil on wood; 84 × 57 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Vienna, Austria

Ferdinand I dies. Maximilian II becomes Holy Roman Emperor.

Rudolph is sent to Philip II of Spain, the grim, for education. Rudolph is a serious boy, inclined towards melancholia. His decade in Spain does nothing to improve his bouts of depression.

Arcimboldo paints many pictures in this period, but few survive.

Arcimboldo appointed as court portrait artist.

Arcimboldo served as architect, stage designer, water engineer and art specialist.

With Arcimboldo Maximilian developed and extended his curio cabinet which became the nucleus of his son's Art and Wonder Chambers.

The Librarian
about 1566
oil on canvas; 97 × 71 cm
Skoklosters Slott
Bålsa, Sweden

The Lawyer
1566
oil on canvas, 64 × 51 cm
Statens Konstsamlingar
Gripsholm Slott
Stockholm, Sweden

Earth
about.1570
oil on wood; 70 × 49 cm
Private collection
Vienna, Austria

Water
1566
oil on limewood; 67 × 52 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Vienna, Austria

Air
about 1555
oil on canvas; 75 × 56 cm
Private collection
Basel, Switzerland

Fire
1566
oil on limewood; 67 × 51 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Vienna, Austria

The Dinner
about 1570
oil on canvas, 52 × 41 cm
Private collection
Stockholm, Sweden

Click here to see The Cook

Costume for Cerberus
about 1571
blue ink on paper; 25 × 19 cm
Uffizi, Florence, Italy

Costume for Charon
about 1571
blue ink on paper; 25 × 19 cm
Uffizi, Florence, Italy

One of these copies of The Seasons can be found it the Louvre; some art historians believe that the flowered border around the Louvre pictures was added later by a different artist. This is the only complete set in one place.

[The last time I was in the Louvre in 2001, these pictures were very dirty, mislabeled, and almost impossible to find. They are clearly not high priority items for the Louvre curatorial staff. Given this disdain for Arcimboldo, perhaps the Louvre should sell them to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, they, no doubt, would take better care of them. I'm sure the Getty would be thrilled to buy them. —ed]

Winter
1573
oil on canvas; 76 × 64 cm
Louvre, Paris, France

Spring
1573
oil on canvas; 76 × 64 cm
Louvre, Paris, France

Summer
1573
oil on canvas; 76 × 64 cm
Louvre, Paris, France

Autumn
1573
oil on canvas; 76 × 64 cm
Louvre, Paris, France

Rudolph II, 23, returns from Spain. Maximilian is not feeling well. He decides his son should begin to rule the empire. Rudolph II is crowned King of Bohemia, in Prague.

Arcimboldo's illegitimate son, Benedict is given official recognition by Maximilian.

Rudolph is an intelligent and gifted man. He speaks several languages with ease, has good taste in art and is interested in mathematics and science. He becomes good friends with Arcimboldo and Fonteo.

After his return from Spain, however, Rudolph suffers from depression and after being crowned Emperor his periods of depression deepen.

Germany is divided by Protestant and Catholic factions. A large earthquake shakes Vienna and the plague comes and goes. The Turks do the same. Rudolph suffers his first emotional breakdown, becoming severely depressed and refuses to leave his appartment.

Rudolph II moves his residence permanently to Prague in Bohemia to escape the crowds and pressures of Vienna. He turnes to the study of astronomy and magic and starts adding to his father's collection of beautiful and curious objects.

Arcimboldo and Fonteo move to Prague with him.

Rudolph's court was the intellectual center of Europe. He brought astronomers, authors, doctors, artists, and craftsmen to the court in Prague. In the castle gardens the Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe, observes the stars and writes down his observations of planetary wanderings. When Rudolph's cousin, Archduke Ferdinand banishes Johannes Kepler, Rudolph welcomes him in Prague. Using Brahe's work, the Rudolphine Tables, Kepler validates his theory of planetary motion.

Rudolph collects paintings of, among others, Breughel and Correggio.

In this environment of intellectual excitement Arcimboldo creates a color notation for representing music; probably to show the similarly of principles underlying painting and music.

Lomazzo's commentary on Arcimboldo is the first known published criticism of Arcimboldo's peculiar art.

The Vegetable Bowl
about 1590
oil on wood; 35 × 24 cm
Museo Civico
Ala Ponzone, Cremona, Italy

Click here to see The Gardner

Flora
about 1588
oil on wood; 73 × 56 cm
Private collection
Paris, France

Vertumnus
[Emperor Rudolph II]
about 1590-1591
oil on wood; 68 × 56 cm
Skoklosters Slott
Bålsta, Sweden

Arcimboldo dies in Milan of urine retention caused by kidney stones. He died a painful death, but he did not die of the plague.

And What Happened to Rudolph?

Over the years, Rudolph's moods change from engagement with the problems of his day to deep melancholia, or paranoia and uncontrollable rages. During Rudolph's inability to deal with governing, Wolfgang Rumpf, his chief minister and long-time companion, gradually attains control over the administration of the Empire. By 1599, Rudolph becomes convinced that Rumpf is planning and acting aginst him. He forces Rumpf to resign, but later takes him back.

For a couple of months in 1599, Rudolph's rages subside, but in July he flees Prague in a panic after an outbreak of the plague.

For a year he lives in isolation in Pilsen. He suffers from a shortness of breath. His attacks of paranoid fears are often followed by weeks of relative calm.

In June 1600 Rudolph returns to Prague and for a while he acts normally. He hunts and attends parties. Soon, however, he starts hallucinating and claiming that he has been poisoned or bewitched. He repeatedly attempts suicide.

In September 1600 he dismisses Wolfgang von Rumpf for the last time. From then onwards Rudolph fails to summon the Privy Council or to delegate his powers to a Prime Minister. The government is paralyzed.

He takes his meals alone, every day at exactly the same time in exactly the same room. Priests or prayers of any sort annoy him, and he fears the sacraments.

In 1611 Matthias, Rudolph's brother and heir, meets with rest of the family in Vienna. Matthias is named "Head of the House of Habsburg" and they make him regent. At the head of an army Matthias marches to the gates of Prague and forces Rudolph into submission.

On 11 November, Rudolph signs a deed of abdication. He is left only with the Imperial Crown but no power. Matthias grants him a pension and the possession of Hradschin castle in Prague. For a couple of months he lives there with his exotic animals.

On 20 January 1612, Rudolph II dies. His reign is regarded as Prague's golden age.

And What Happened to Arcimboldo?

Arcimboldo was soon forgotten. His paintings became quaint curiosities.

Finally, in 1885 Dr. Carlo Casati writes a treatise Giuseppe Arcimboldi, pittore milanese in which he is characterized as a painter of portraits. A few years later the Surrealists regard him as a precursor of their own art. By 1954 Benno Geiger publishes his detailed analysis of Arcimboldo's work. Interest in Arcimboldo in the last half of the twentieth century increases dramatically.

Much effort is made to fit Arcimboldo's art into the traditional categories that have been arranged to describe the periods of Western art. None are really convincing. In time period Arcimboldo fits into late Mannerism. But stylistically he is in a place of his own.

What was Arcimboldo's motive for doing these pictures? There has been much argument about him expressing a view that humans are a part of the world, or vice versa. Or that the pictures are all symbolic codes for some message. Undoubtly there is symbolism in the choices of animals and objects that make up the face. But I think there is a simple answer. Arcimboldo and the people who supported him found the pictures witty and entertaining. They were all the rage among European monarchs. So Arcimboldo painted more of the same.

If you watch the pattern of the pictures he moved from relatively simple pictures easy to understand images to more and more complex ones, reaching a point where they became puzzle pictures. Puzzle pictures require wit on the part of the viewer to see what is represented.

And then there are the final two great pictures, Flora and Vertumnus. These are witty, but they are also romantic and caring images to honor his patron Rudolph for whom he felt great sadness and affection. One can't look at Vertumnus long without laughing; and I'm sure Arcimboldo hoped that Rudolph would laugh and feel better. And maybe it did help Rudolph hold on longer.