"Spring," Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1563.
Arcimboldo (1527-93) is an Italian Mannerist painter best known for his surreal still lifes that form faces. These are felt today to be mostly novelties meant to amuse, but they're the work that has survived.
Very little of his more conventional work has been found, and most of it is, well, very conventional. Unremarkable, even. He saved all his creative energy for things like this.
Honestly, I'd like to give him credit for being a surrealist before surrealism was a thing. Here we have Spring, a woman made up completely of flowers and leaves, with lips of rose petals. What could be more appropriate?
It seems more suited for Flower Friday than Portrait Monday, but heck, it's a portrait of a season, isn't it?
Happy Portrait Monday!
From the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid.
#Art #Mannerism #GiuseppeArcimboldo #PortraitMonday #ProtoSurrealism #Spring