Autumn
1573 · Oil on canvas · Musée du Louvre, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527–1593)
- Year
- 1573
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 76 × 63.5 cm
- Collection
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Movement
- Renaissance
- Series
- The Four Seasons (1573)
A gruff man's head facing left is composed of the harvest: his cheek and nose are an apple and a pear, his chin a pomegranate, his mouth a split chestnut, his ear a mushroom with a fig hanging from it as an earring, and his hair bunches of black and white grapes with vine leaves under a pumpkin for a cap. His body is a broken wooden barrel whose staves are bound with willow withies. Arcimboldo painted the canvas in 1573 as part of the second full set of the Seasons, very probably commissioned by Emperor Maximilian II as a gift for the Elector Augustus of Saxony, repeating compositions he had first painted in 1563; the original Autumn of that first series is lost. The Seasons were paired with Arcimboldo's other series, the Elements, Autumn corresponding to Earth, in an allegory of the harmony of nature under Habsburg rule. The set was purchased by the Musée du Louvre in 1964, and Autumn is currently displayed at the Louvre-Lens.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A harvest head of grapes, pears, a pumpkin cap and a barrel body against deep navy, rich and humorous, for a kitchen, dining room or wine corner at 16×24 in natural wood. A mustard, terracotta or warm white wall; it pairs with The Seasons: Autumn.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Renaissance painting
- Era
- 16th century (1573)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- kitchen, dining room, living room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; natural wood lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Autumn in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Autumn painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.





















