The Artistically Grotesque Paintings of 16th-Century Italian Painter

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was a 16th-century Italian painter who became famous for his grotesque and imaginative portrait heads made up of objects like flowers, fruits, animals, or various inanimate objects. Arcimboldo was a court painter for three Holy Roman Emperors in Vienna and Prague. His juxtaposition of still-life objects on human heads created curiosity in his contemporaries and has given an opportunity for art historians and scholars to interpret his whimsical art.

This article would cover Arcimboldo's repertoire of art pieces, his most famous painting, and the symbolic interpretations of his paintings.

Arcimboldo's paintings

The Librarian

The Librarian is an oil on canvas painting created around 1562 and housed in the Skokloster Castle in Sweden. Arcimboldo created this art piece during the reign of Maximilian II who was the Holy Roman Emperor of the House of Habsburg.

This painting illustrates a body of a human made up of books and bookmarks.

In 1957, an art historian Sven Alfons concluded that the portrait is of an Austrian humanist, Wolfgang Lazius. This painting is regarded as the "triumph of 16th-century abstract art."

Symbolically, this painting is interpreted as a celebration and satirical mocking of librarians.

K. C. Elhard suggests that it may be specifically a parody of "materialistic book collectors more interested in acquiring books than in reading them."

The Four Elements

The Four Elements is a series of four oil paintings created in 1566 during Maximilian's reign. Air, Water, Earth, and Fire constitute the four elements illustrated vividly and creatively by Arcimboldo. He tried to portray harmony in the universe by carefully arranging the animals in the four elements.

Air 

shows a cornucopia of small birds that combine to create the face and hair of a man. The body is made of peacocks and eagles that are symbols of the Habsburg dynasty.

Fire 

Literally, Arcimboldo used burning wood and candle to create a crown of glowing hair, steel forms the nose and ear and the two large canons form the body that shows the strength of the Habsburg empire and their armies. While symbolically, the painter used jewelry burning in fire showing a transient life.

Earth

 is made of land animals. Antlered creatures form the head, an elephant creates the cheek, a full cow represents the neck. This painting too portrays the lion and fleece that are references to the Habsburg dynasty.

Water 

depicts the marine creatures on a woman's face. The head crown is made of the spines on the back of a fish. Pearl earrings and pearl necklaces beautifully highlight the painting. The breastplate is a crab, turtle, and lobster along with an octopus on her shoulder.

Arcimboldo's masterpiece - Vertumnus

Vertumnus is a masterpiece by Arcimboldo created in 1591 that is composed of multiple fruits, vegetables, and flowers to create a portrait of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II.

According to history, the ruler Rudolf II never took care of his empire but showed a keen interest in appreciating and accepting abstract art. And that is the reason Arcimboldo thrived in his court.

In Roman mythology, Vertumnus is the god of changing seasons, gardens, and plant growth. When Arcimboldo compared Rudolf II with Vertumnus, Rudolf II accepted the portrait graciously and with pride.

Arcimboldo used exotic fruits and vegetables in Rudolf II's portrait to depict his wealth and power. The use of corn (a crop originating from the new world) in his ear indicated his love for foreign luxury goods.

Arcimboldo's art interpretation

Barthes, a French literary scholar says, "Arcimboldo speaks the double language, at the same time obvious and obfuscatory; he creates "mumbling" and "gibberish", but these inventions remain quite rational. Generally, the only whim (bizarrerie) which isn't afforded by Arcimboldo - he doesn't create language absolutely unclear … his art not madly."

Art critics including F. Legrand and F. Xu concluded Arcimboldo's art depicts neo-Platonic ideas - the creation of the universe from chaos by the combination of four elements.

Last thoughts

In modern language, we might interpret grotesque art as "disgusting or unpleasant". But in the art world, grotesque can be fascinating, mysterious, or magnificent. Arcimboldo's paintings are grotesque and might look ugly to some but many art lovers feel his "ugly paintings look beautiful", arouse curiosity, and are unique.

I feel that Arcimboldo mainly served two purposes in his art career - to make his patrons happy and look visually fascinating and give an underlying message from each painting; be it harmony on earth or the transient nature of human lives.

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