Giuseppe Arcimboldo, also spelled Arcimboldi, was an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and books.
Self-portrait, now in National Gallery Prague
Vertumnus, a portrait depicting Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, painted as Vertumnus, the Roman god of the seasons, c. 1590–91. Skokloster Castle, Sweden.
Four Seasons in One Head, c. 1590, National Gallery of Art, U.S.
A 1813 Puzzle Picture of Napoleon, in the style of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, hand-colored etching, in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York City)
Vertumnus is an oil painting produced by the Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo in 1591 that consists of multiple fruits, vegetables and flowers that come together to create a portrait of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. Although Arcimboldo's colleagues commented that Vertumnus was scherzo, or humorous, there were intentional political meanings behind the piece, particularly regarding the choice of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Arcimboldo's choice to include these items was also an intentional reference to the Roman god, Vertumnus.
Vertumnus (Arcimboldo)