Winter
1563 · Oil on limewood · Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
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About this work
- Artist
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527–1593)
- Year
- 1563
- Medium
- Oil on limewood
- Original size
- 66.6 × 50.5 cm
- Collection
- Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
- Movement
- Renaissance
- Series
- The Four Seasons (1563)
An old man's head in profile is made from a gnarled, split tree stump: the bark forms wrinkled skin, a broken branch the ear, two bracket fungi the lips, roots and twigs a straggling beard, and a tangle of dead branches and ivy the hair; a lemon and an orange, the only fruit of the Italian winter, hang from a twig at his chest. He is wrapped in a woven straw mat whose collar bears the letter M, pointing to Maximilian II, for whom the series was painted. Arcimboldo signed the panel at the lower right, GIVSEPPE ARCIMBOLDO F, and inscribed the date 1563 and the word HIEMS, winter, on the back. Winter was the first season of the year in the Roman calendar and was linked by contemporaries with the emperor himself. The panel later belonged to the Kunstkammer of Rudolf II, was in the imperial treasury in Vienna by 1748 and entered the picture gallery in 1830. With Summer, it is one of two survivors from the original series, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
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
An old man's profile made of a gnarled stump, ivy and fungi with a bright lemon and orange in a straw cloak against black, for a kitchen, study or hallway at 18×24 in black. A sage, charcoal or warm white wall; it pairs with Festoon of Fruit and Flowers.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Renaissance painting
- Era
- 16th century (1563)
- 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 in — 12×16 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 18×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway.
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 Winter in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Winter 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.
