Arcimboldo: Nature into Art

Milan-born Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526-1593) both charmed and confused his contemporaries with fanciful portrait heads made of items such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and books. Rediscovered by the Surrealists in the early 20th century, Arcimboldo was far from an outcast in his time, working as a court painter for Habsburg emperors Ferdinand I, Maximilian II and Rudolf II in Vienna and Prague, but did make some 16th-century scholars and critics wonder whether he was crazy or just had a very vivid imagination. Centred on a trove of oil paintings borrowed from museums around the world, 'Nature into Art' also includes several related materials and works by artists influenced by Arcimboldo.