Four Seasons in One Head
c. 1590 · Oil on panel · National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
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About this work
- Artist
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527–1593)
- Year
- c. 1590
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Original size
- 60.4 × 44.7 cm
- Collection
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Movement
- Renaissance
A head in profile is formed from a dead, gnarled tree stump with peeling bark and a broken branch for the nose, crowned with grapes, apples, ivy and cherries, and wrapped at the base in a straw mat stuck with roses and wheat, so that winter, summer, spring and autumn all appear in one figure. Arcimboldo signed it ARCIMBOLDUS F on a branch at the upper right. He painted it late in life, in about 1590, after returning to Milan, for his friend the writer Gregorio Comanini, who described it in his treatise on painting, Il Figino, published in 1591; it is sometimes taken as a reflective self-portrait of the ageing artist. Recorded in Verona in 1656, the panel was then lost to sight until 2006, when it was rediscovered in a private collection in England, where it had been since the early twentieth century. The National Gallery of Art in Washington acquired it in 2010 and showed it in its Arcimboldo exhibition that year.
This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A gnarled tree-stump head crowned with grapes and red apples, wrapped in straw and roses against dark brown, for a study, kitchen or hallway at 18×24 in black. A sage, warm grey or deep green wall; it pairs with The Seasons.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Renaissance painting
- Era
- 16th century (c. 1590)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- kitchen, hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 18×24. Prints at 12×16, 18×24, 24×32 in — 12×16 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 18×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×32 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing.
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 Four Seasons in One Head in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Four Seasons in One Head 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.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
