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Giuseppe Arcimboldo only produced about 30 paintings in his career.

And yet, he left his mark on the collective imagination.

Some find him anecdotal,

others repulsive, or simply amusing.

But behind this apparent frivolity

hides a profound, subtle, and melancholic artist.

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Man Ray, Dali, Marcel Duchamp,

Max Ernst, Andre Breton.

In the 1920's, all these surrealist artists

discovered the work of Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

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To understand why artists regularly,

and sometimes obsessively,

perpetuate the work of Arcimboldo...

..we need to return to the source of his story,

which began in Lombardy.

In the middle of the 16th Century, Milan was in full artistic growth,

and was one of the richest cities in the world.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was born in the spring of 1526

into an esteemed family of artists.

The city was renowned for the number

of artists' workshops it was home to,

and for the skill of its artisans

who fulfilled the extensive demands of the church.

His artistic training took place under the watchful eye

of his father, Biagio,

himself an established painter.

The studio in which they worked together

participated in the great artistic projects of the city,

and in particular, the building of the Duomo,

Milan's cathedral,

considered the most ambitious construction in Europe.

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At the age of 23,

Giuseppe Arcimboldo already held the title of Magister, Master.

He excelled at drawing,

at assembling stain glass with lead strips,

and at the diversity of his artistic talents,

creating wall hangings

and painting frescos on a daily basis,

alongside his father.

Half a century earlier,

Leonardo da Vinci had spent a large part of his career

in the Lombardic capital, in the service of the Duke of Milan.

Just like him, the young Arcimboldo

pictured a career as an eclectic artist.

He concentrated on perfecting his talents,

observing nature, and studying the evolving sciences of the time.

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Based upon his observations of nature,

Leonardo da Vinci exaggerated facial expressions

and created physionomies which didn't exist in reality.

These drawings opened the door to a new form of creativeness.

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Arcimboldo was also to find this sort of fantasy

in an artistic movement which had just appeared.

Fifty years after the death of Leonardo da Vinci,

artists of the second half of the 16th Century

were deeply marked by the quantity and greatness of the work

of precious great Masters.

How was one to follow Raphael,

Michelangelo, Titian or Da Vinci?

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Placing itself voluntarily

outside the norms of classical representation,

a new generation of artists let its imagination run wild.

Laying down the principals of a new pictorial style, mannerism.

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Instilled with a great sense of freedom,

mannerism stretched and twisted the body

to modify proportions and express movement.

But this audacious trend

of which Arcimboldo was later to become one of the great proponents,

was considered by some, however, to be profane.

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In 1562, just when the atmosphere was changing drastically in Milan,

Arcimboldo left Italy.

Maximilian II of the House of Habsburg

had called him to the court of Vienna.

At the age of 36,

he entered the very heart of the capital

of the Germanic holy Roman Empire,

the symbol of cultural Europe,

open and cosmopolitan.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was ready to offer is talents

in service of the Habsburg Emperors

where he would at last be able to express himself

in a way which was less subjected to the demands of the church.

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(FIREWORKS BANG, SCREECH)

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Within just one year of arriving in Vienna,

the settings and costumes of Arcimboldo

delighted princes and courtiers alike.

Strengthened by this success,

the painter wanted to show King Maximilian

the extent of his inventions.

In 1563, he presented a series of paintings

on which he had secretly been working for several years,

The Four Seasons.

But how was he to present this iconoclastic work?

Arcimboldo was in danger of losing

the honours and esteem of the Sovereign

if the composite portraits were not well received.

He decided to accompany his efforts

with poems written by his friend, Giovanni Battista Fonteo.

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Blueberries, artichokes, and marrows combine and intertwine

to compose anthropomorphic figure.

The colours are bright, the flowers abundant,.

From these composed heads,

spring forth a hitherto unknown pictural style.

At court, this new style of images

overturned aesthetic conventions

by virtue of their striking modernity.

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(LIGHT INDISTINCT CHATTER)

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(LIGHT INDISTINCT CHATTER)

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(JAUNTY MUSIC)

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(LIGHT INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(BIRDS CHIRP)

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By composing from the infinite repertoire of nature's forms

Arcimboldo created a new visual language

to the point of associating shapes with feelings.

But where did this passion for natural architecture

and the keenness of his observations come from?

These apparently playful portraits

also reveal a more serious game

related to the great discoveries of his time, in which he was to play

a central role in the service of a new Sovereign.

In 1572, Giuseppe Arcimboldo

joined Rudolf II, son of Maximilian II,

when the court of Vienna moved to Prague.

This Emperor, with his eccentric character,

wanted to turn Prague into the European capital

of arts and sciences.

At the time, which was strongly marked by technological innovations,

and the discovery of the New World,

he surrounded himself with eminent researchers and scholars.

Rudolf invited naturalists,

numerologists, biologists,

astronomers, and other savants to his court.

Passionate about occult sciences, and an art lover,

the Emperor, with the help of Arcimboldo,

who had become his artistic consultant,

put together a cabinet of curiosities

intended to bear witness to his wealth and power.

In this private room within the Emperor's castle,

was depicted all the wonder and surprise

that the universe and nature had to offer.

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(BIRDS CHIRP)

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(BIRDS CHIRP, CALL)

With privileged access to these extraordinary animals and plants,

which he scientifically drew and studied,

Arcimboldo improved and expanded his art.

Armed with these naturalist illustrations,

he composed four new allegorical portraits,

this time based on the theme of the elements.

They were intended to complement The Four Seasons series,

and to decorate the Imperial Kunstkammer.

To accompany the presentation of this new series,

the poet, Fonteo, declared:

"The summer is warm and dry like fire.

The winter is cold and humid like water.

The air and the spring are both warm and humid.

And the autumn and the earth are both cold and dry."

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(GROWLING, THUDDING)

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In the winter of 1587,

after 25 years spent at the Imperial court,

Arcimboldo returned to Milan.

In addition to his pension,

Rudolf dubbed him a Count palatine,

one of the most prestigious honourific titles of the period.

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In his last self portrait,

he depicted himself as mature and scholarly,

with his hair and beard composed of paper.

On his forehead can be seen his age, 61.

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Arcimboldo first sent the Emperor

a spring-like variation on the theme of the goddess of flowers.

His portraits express all the refinement of his work

as a colourist in these feminine faces

touched by melancholy.

He then sent a more sombre portrait

called Four Seasons In One Head.

He amusingly placed his signature in the bark of a branch.

He finally gave Rudolf II

a portrait in which he displayed particular creative ingenuity.

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(SOMBRE MELANCHOLIC MUSIC)

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# CLAUDIO CAVINA: Madrigals #

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