- June 1st, 2011
Here's a whimsical interpretation of summer's bounty by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526-1593). This would be a fun exercise for kids too especially after a day at the farmer's market. Enjoy!
Vortumnus (Vertumno), ca. 1590
The Gardener, ca. 1590
Summer, ca. 1563
To learn more about Giuseppe Arcimboldo, click here.
3 Responses
Please feel free to comment!
What I find fascinating about Arcimboldo’s paintings is that, if you look closely at the individual fruits, vegetables and flowers you get an idea of what people could eat back then. And many of those plants don’t exist anymore at least in that variety.
There is a lady near here who has recently started an “historical orchard and vegetable garden”: essentially she is trying to grow ancient varieties of fruit and vegetables that were once a fundamental part of our diet and have now disappeared. I think it’s really cool.
That’s great! It’s so important to keep heirloom varieties alive. There are small scale organic farms that are doing it here too. They’re a dying breed amidst the GMO fields that dominate now.
I love these artwork. How many words can a wordsmith smith?