4 seasons - Winter by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Closing the cycle of the four traditional seasons, this powerful work strongly expresses the bareness and resilience of the dormant winter nature. Conceived by the visionary painter and official court portraitist Arcimboldo Giuseppe, this masterful allegory is today temporarily entitled “4 seasons - Winter”. It perfectly illustrates the Mannerist aesthetic which boldly transforms raw, woody and organic natural elements into a dignified, timeless and fascinating human figure.

The right profile of a gnarled and tired old man stands out spectacularly against an entirely dark, empty and gloomy background. The skin is entirely made up of a rough, cracked, ancient tree bark dotted with dried mosses. The nose is a broken branch segment, while the mouth is formed of large stacked wild forest mushrooms. The hair is a complex intertwining of dead and bare branches, entangled with ivy stems with persistent leaves. The bust is wrapped in a light woven straw mat, from which escapes a branch bearing two hanging lemons with very green leaves.

The illusionistic rendering of the bark crevices and the dry straw highlights the rigorous technique of oil. The artist demonstrates extraordinary craftsmanship by breathing life into this dead wood. The final textural realism is absolutely striking.