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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Earth (detail)
1566
Oil on panel
Private collection


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


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


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


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


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


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


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



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



© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.