Vegetables In a Bowl or The Gardener
1587-90
Mannerism
Oil on wood
Museo Civico “Ala Ponzone”, Cremona, Italy
“Vegetables in a Bowl or the Gardener” is one of several paintings by Arcimboldo that can be viewed in reverse, revealing a still-life in one perspective and a portrait in the other. X-ray evidence shows that the painting process often required Arcimboldo to repaint and change the positions of some of the objects.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Mannerism
Born: 1527, Milan, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Died: 11 July 1593, Milan, Italy
Arcimboldo was a painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made from objects such as fruit, vegetables, fish, books, and flowers. However, he was also a conventional painter of portraits, including three Holy Roman Emperors, religious subjects, and exotic animals. Arcimboldo’s still-life portraits were intended as curiosities, whimsical in nature produced to amuse the court
