Artwork
Summer
Summer is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo. It dates from 1563 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Overview
Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s oil painting *Summer* (1563) belongs to his series of seasonal allegories. Executed in the Mannerist style, the work presents a composite portrait in which a human figure is assembled from a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains that symbolize the abundance of the summer harvest.
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts a profile figure whose head is formed of leafy greens, berries and clusters of grapes, while wheat and straw create the neck, collar and shirt. The arrangement of agricultural produce functions as a visual metaphor for the season’s fertility and the cyclical nature of food production.
Technique & Style
Arcimboldo employed meticulous oil rendering to integrate disparate botanical elements into a coherent facial likeness. The Mannerist penchant for illusion and intellectual play is evident in the seamless blending of textures, light, and color that transform ordinary produce into a unified portrait.
History & Provenance
Created while Arcimboldo served as court painter to the Holy Roman Emperors Ferdinand I, Maximilian II and Rudolf II, *Summer* remained in the imperial collection. It entered the holdings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it is displayed as part of the museum’s Renaissance assemblage.
Context
The painting forms one half of a paired set with *Winter* and is linked to other seasonal portraits such as *Spring* and *Autumn*. These works reflect the 16th‑century fascination with emblematic representation, combining scientific observation of plants with allegorical storytelling for a learned audience.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, also spelled Arcimboldi (Italian: ; 5 April 1527 – 11 July 1593), was an Italian Mannerist painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish…
