Giuseppe Arcimboldo Oil Painting Reproductions

Giuseppe Arcimboldo: Italian Renaissance Art

Giuseppe Arcimboldo is one of the most intriguing figures of the Renaissance art movement. People know Arcimboldo for his Renaissance oil paintings. These paintings show portrait heads made entirely of fruit, vegetables, flowers, and other objects.

Who is Giuseppe Arcimboldo?

Giuseppe Arcimboldo's parents gave birth to him in Milan in 1526. His family were also artists. He became interested in art at a young age when he created religious paintings and stained glass window designs.

However, in 1562 his career began a significant course when, at the age of 36 when the artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo was appointed Portrait Artist to the Habsburg Court of Ferdinand 1st in Vienna. During this period Arcimboldo's renaissance art took on his signature style.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo remained at the Habsburg Court for 25 years, During his life he also held other illustrious appointments, including being appointed to the Court of Maximilian II and Rudolf II at the Prague Royal Court.

Although Arcimboldo’s famous paintings are attributed to the Mannerism art movement but they also incorporate the style of Renaissance oil paintings and Baroque art.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo Paintings.

Paintings by the artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo are highly individual and from a distance appear to be conventional portrait paintings. However, upon closer inspection, it is clear that many elements of nature form the composition.

Art historians often classify the renaissance artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo's oil paintings as Mannerist painting. This style of painting features artificiality, grace, and elegance that emerged after the High Renaissance. Mannerism paintings involve exaggerated and stylized forms. Arcimboldo's paintings align with this art movement by virtue of their fantastical compositions which defy the norms of realism.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo Four Seasons Paintings

The Four Seasons series are his most famous paintings. The Four Seasons series of paintings include Spring and Summer, both painted in 1563.

Arcimboldo painted Autumn and Winter during the early 1570s. Spring and Summer are at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Spring is also at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. Autumn is displayed at the Louvre in Paris.

Summer by Giuseppe Arcimboldo art from the Four Seasons series is one of our most popular paintings. It features summer fruits and vegetables like cucumbers, peas, and corn.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo Vertumnus

Vertumnus is an iconic painting depicting the Emperor Rudolf II as the Roman God of the seasons, plant growth and change. Arcimboldo’s famous painting incorporates a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and flowers. It symbolizes an abundance of harmony and nature.

Vertumnus illustrates the artist’s unique ability to combine symbolism with portrait paintings. His art creates visual puzzles which lures viewers to take a closer look.

The Legacy of Arcimboldo’s Fruit Faces

Although Giuseppe’s Arcimboldo’s paintings garnered appreciation during his life, his extraordinary paintings were forgotten for many years. In 2011, the National Gallery of Art in Washington held an exhibition with 16 of his paintings. Since then, people have rediscovered his work. Art lovers around the world enjoy Giuseppe Arcimboldo's fruit faces.

Surrealist artist Salvador Dali and the greatest 20th-century artist, Pablo Picasso, reportedly rediscovered his work. Giuseppe Arcimboldo has since been hailed as the "grandfather of Surrealism"

Buy Fine Art Reproductions of Giuseppe Arcimboldo art

Painting reproductions of Arcimboldo’s unique and humorous flower head paintings. Every oil on canvas painting is 100% hand-painted by one of our resident professional artists.

Renaissance oil paintings are for sale in many sizes, and we specialize in oversized wall art. All prices include FREE GLOBAL SHIPPING