Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo began his career painting tradition religious subject matter as a court painter, but was most admired for his whimsical optical-illusion portraits made from objects traditionally found in still lifes, like animals and fruit. Each of these unusual portraits were created to have the illusion of a normal human anatomy from a distance, and only once the viewer examines more closely do they notice that they are not at all normal. Despite their peculiar features, Arcimboldo’s portraits never included random objects, but were thoughtfully planned out according to the subject of the portrait; for example, a portrait of an admiral is made entirely of sea creatures.