JOURNAL ARCHIVES

SUMMER 2008

WATERSHED ART

Vertumnus: Portrait of Rudolph II (Giuseppe Arcimboldo)

Nude descending a staircase, No. 2 (Marcel Duchamp)

The kiss (Gustav Klimt)

Luncheon on the grass (Edouard Manet)

Olympia (Edouard Manet)

The scream (Edvard Munch)

Impression, Sunrise (Claude Monet)

The sleeping gypsy (Henri Rousseau)

Carnation Lily, Lily Rose (John Singer Sargeant)

The girl with the peaches: portrait of Vera Mamontova (Valentin Serov)

Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte (Georges Seurat)

The Arnolfini Marriage (Jan Van Eyck)

 

 

SUMMER 2008

VERTUMNUS: PORTRAIT OF RUDOLPH II (GIUSEPPE ARCIMBOLDO)

Vertumnus: Portrait of Rudolph II. Giuseppe Arcimboldo. 1591. Skoklosters Slott, Balsta, Sweden. Shall I not have intelligence with the earth?  Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself? Henry David Thoreau (1817-62), writer, transcendentalist, naturalist Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-93) worked as court portraitist and festival organizer during the reigns of three Hapsburg emperors: Ferdinand I (1558-1564), Maximilian II (1564-1576), Rudolph II (1576-1612). He is best known for his allegorical "composed head" portraits, with Vertumnus: Portrait of Rudolph II being the most outstanding example. In this particular portrait Arcimboldo imagines his patron as Vertumnus, the Roman god of metamorphosis, vegetation and the four seasons. Rudolph II was so pleased by the painting that he granted Arcimboldo the title of Count of Palantine. There has been speculation among art historians that these works suggest some form of mental illness. However, that theory is not very persuasive when considering the portraits within the context of the Hapsburg court and, most especially, the reign of Rudolph II. Under Rudolphine rule, Prague became one of the foremost centers for arts and sciences on the European continent. Some of the most important artists, scientists and scholars came together to collaborate, earning Prague the designation Parnassus of the arts*. In this inter-disciplinary atmosphere, Arcimboldo flourished: painting, designing wunderkammers and hydraulic machines, creating a musical notation system using color. Though popular in his lifetime, Arcimboldo's work fell out of fashion after his death. It was not until the twentieth century that his paintings attracted new interest, having a significant influence on the Surrealism movement and the work of Salvador Dali. Notes *Parnassus is a mountain in central Greece. In ancient mythology, it was the home of the Muses and the Delphic Oracle was on its slopes.