Allegories of the Seasons and the Elements (composite heads)
by Giuseppe ARCIMBOLDO

In the Summer of 1563 which belonged to a series of the Four Seasons, Arcimboldo composes heads for the first time from all kinds of objects, whose selection gives meaning to the allegory. As attested by, among others, a maiolica plate from 1536, this compositional method was certainly not invented by Arcimboldo, but the sophistication and imagination with which the painter applies the themes in the picture-puzzles are a very personal achievement, and the many later copies serve to reveal in their weaknesses and simplifications Arcimboldo's true originality.

The cycle of the seasons is also an allegorical representation of the for ages of life. In correspondence to the Four Seasons was the series created three years later in 1566, the Four Elements. Through a paired arrangement of the qualities in the objects, warm-cold and damp-dry, the elements correspond to the seasons. Thus the warm-dry summer corresponds to fire, the cold-damp winter to water, the warm-moist spring to air and the cold-dry autumn to earth. Thereby, through the arrangement of the heads, turn to the left or to the right, corresponding pairs face each other and form a unit. If desired, the allegories in the two series could be arranged into a paired-grouping in which each head in one series would face its corresponding head in the other, as follows: Spring - Air, Summer - Fire, Autumn - Earth, Winter - Water.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
Spring
1563
Oil on oak wood, 66 x 50 cm
Museo de la Real Academia de San Fernando, Madrid

983*1300
True Color
187 Kb



Summer
1563
Oil on panel, 67 x 51 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

993*1300
True Color
187 Kb



Summer (detail)
1563
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

900*1080
True Color
144 Kb



Winter
1563
Oil on panel, 67 x 51 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

994*1300
True Color
167 Kb



Winter (detail)
1563
Oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

900*1076
True Color
140 Kb



Spring
1573
Oil on canvas, 76 x 64 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

1092*1300
True Color
202 Kb



Summer
1573
Oil on canvas, 76 x 64 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

1093*1300
True Color
184 Kb



Autumn
1573
Oil on canvas, 76 x 64 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

1090*1300
True Color
210 Kb



Winter
1573
Oil on canvas, 76 x 63,5 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

1082*1300
True Color
202 Kb



Summer
1572
Oil on canvas, 92 x 71 cm
Art Museum, Denver

1005*1300
True Color
203 Kb



Autumn
1572
Oil on canvas, 93 x 72 cm
Art Museum, Denver

1020*1300
True Color
102 Kb



Winter
c. 1572
Oil on canvas, 93 x 72 cm
The Menil Collection, Houston

1007*1300
True Color
207 Kb



Spring
-
Oil on wood, 84 x 57 cm
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich

1100*1300
True Color
205 Kb



Summer
-
Oil on wood, 84 x 57 cm
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich

1081*1300
True Color
208 Kb



Winter
-
Oil on wood, 84 x 57 cm
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich

1057*1300
True Color
201 Kb



The Four Seasons in one Head
c. 1590
Oil on poplar wood, 60 x 45 cm
Private collection

962*1300
True Color
150 Kb



The Four Seasons in one Head (detail)
c. 1590
Oil on poplar wood
Private collection

900*1053
True Color
162 Kb



Air
c. 1566
Oil on canvas, 74 x 56 cm
Private collection

978*1300
True Color
166 Kb



Earth
1566
Oil on panel, 70 x 49 cm
Private collection

890*1300
True Color
142 Kb



Earth (detail)
1566
Oil on panel
Private collection

1025*1200
True Color
192 Kb



Fire
1566
Oil on wood, 67 x 51 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

1001*1300
True Color
127 Kb



Water
1566
Oil on wood, 67 x 51 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

996*1300
True Color
160 Kb



Water (detail)
1566
Oil on wood
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

900*1039
True Color
190 Kb



Fire
c. 1572
Oil on canvas, 75 x 66 cm
Private collection

732*1000
True Color
102 Kb



Water
-
Oil on canvas, 65 x 53 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

850*1026
True Color
156 Kb



Pairs of Allegories
1563 and 1566
Oil on wood or canvas
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Academia de San Fernando, Madrid, Private collection

1000*1288
True Color
181 Kb



Pairs of Allegories
1563 and 1566
Oil on wood or canvas
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Art Museum, Denver, Private collection

1000*1285
True Color
145 Kb




Summary of works by Arcimboldo
Paintings
Early works in Milan
Portraits for the Holy Roman Emperor
Allegories of the Seasons and the Elements
Composite and reversible heads
Graphics
Nature studies
Costumes and drawings for court festivities
Treatise on silk culture and manufacture
Various drawings