OLD MASTERS - A painted winter

Winter

'through the eyes' of  OLD MASTERS

Giuseppe (Joseffi) Arcimboldo  1527 - 1593

"...perfect in his uniqueness, as are only the great". ANDRE  PIEYRE  MANDIARGUES

 

Self-Portrait,  c. 1575

Narodni Galerie, Prague

Like all Italian names with the ending -baldo or -boldo, 

Arcimboldo is Southern Germanic in origin.  The history of

the Arcimboldo family was recorded by Father F. Paolo Morigia,

who faithfully wrote down everything the artist told him.

And according to Father Morigia it goes back as far

as Charlemagne, in whose sevices there was said to have been

a certain nobleman by the name of Saitfried Arcimboldi.

Of his sixteen children three were said to have excelled so much

that they were also ennobled.

One of these three subsequently emigrated to Italy, where he

established the Italian line of the Arcimboldi family.

This story is undoubtedly a mixture of history and legend,

but the following words of Morigia's seem to be more

securely grounded in facts: 

"Everything I have been saying about the Arcimboldis comes from

Mr. Giuseppe Arcimboldi, a trustworthy gentleman 

with an impeccable lifestyle, who has served 

two German Emperors, and he has copied these details about 

the ancestry and origins of the Arcimboldi family from an

ancient parchment in the German language which was read

to him by the physician of the Emperor Maximilian, and he declares

furthermore that he has visited two places which are called Arcimboldi".......

Arcimboldo was probably born in Milan in 1527,

the same year in which Rome was conquered and plundered

by Charles the Fifth's mercenaries.

............

In 1562 Giuseppe gave in to the repeated requests of

Emperor Ferdinand I and went to Prague.

During the two years when he served Ferdinand I he painted

several portraits of the Imperial family as well

as the first series of his Four Seasons.

Research has shown that Arcimboldo also painted

during the reign of Maximilian II 

another series of the Four Seasons in 1572,




Winter was conceived rather differently from the other four seasons.

It is not a tete composée in the same strict sense as

Spring, Summer or Autumn

The other three seasons are presented as a variety of equally

important plants, fruits and flowers, whereas Arcimboldo's       

WINTER  (1563)

consists of a central element, a tree stump in the shape

of a head, which dominates the entire compostition.

Both in form and structure there is a strong similarity 

between the tree stump and the wrinkled hand, stubby beard

and thick lips of an old man, 

thus arousing sympathy in us 

and involving us personally. 

Oil on wood, 66,6 x 50,5 cm

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Signed in the lower right-hand corner:

Giuseppe Arcimboldo F.

Date and title on the reverse: 1563 Hjems

 undated

Oil on wood, 84 x 57 cm

Bayerische Staatsgemaeldesammlungen

Muenchen

Winter (1573)

is the final picture in the series of the Four Seasons

which Arcimboldo painted in 1573.

It is easy to make out a pathetic old man whose nose is peeling

and whose swollen, toothless mouth - a mushroom - sits crookedly

on a chin full of warts.  His face is covered with a stubbly beard and 

is full of scars and scabs.  His eye seems to be hiding in a deep crack

in the bark, and what we recognize as an ear is nothing but the remainder of a broken-off branch.  A thick straw mat protects the old man from the cold.

Oil on canvas, 76 x 64 cm. Musée National du Louvre, Paris 
  

However, Arcimboldo does not see winter just as the cold season; 

this picture also contains an element of comfort.  Hanging from a

 broken branch there are an orange and a lemon: with their glowing

colours they introduce a glimmer of sunshine and warmth into the

cheerless atmosphere.  The green ivy growing from the back of

the old man's head, as well as the tangle of branches resembling a

 crown, reinforce the feeling of hope that winter will not last for ever.

If we take a closer look at the straw mat that envelopes 

Winter like a cloak, we can make out a coat of arms.  

Arcimboldo often received commissions from the Emperor

to paint the Four Seasons, and this was how he sometimes

indicated the recipient of the picture. 

From: Benedikt Taschen Verlag GmbH

www.taschen.com

Text: Werner Kriegskorte