Psychologist: “No, the still-life-portrait doesn’t exist, it can’t harm you”

The still-life-portrait.

Folks this is the first time I come across Giuseppe Arcimboldo, and I couldn’t let the opportunity pass; this still-life portrait is something like I’ve never seen before, and the date (1590) makes this even more interesting to me. Arcimboldo was a mannerist, and like many other talented painters of his time, his clientele was in the courts, he was the court painter for three Holy Roman Emperors and like others in his time also painted many religious pieces.

But his eccentricity is more appreciated in the compositions he made with fruits, animals, and other landscapes and natural elements in human shapes, they had a grotesque intention even when his technique is rather polished and sophisticated, with mannerist style.

This one, in particular, seems to be a metaphor for a person aging and hence, having evidence of being through all seasons of life. Or maybe it’s just a mockery since it seems the courts found these to be rather amusing curiosities.

Pretty cool isn’t it?

J.V