Arcimboldo: visual jokes, natural history, and still-life painting

Contents

Introduction -- Arcimboldo's Lombard origins -- Arcimboldo from 1562: the creation of composite heads -- Learning, poetry, and art -- Serious jokes -- Natural philosophy, natural history, and nature painting -- Nature studies -- Arcimboldo and the origins of still life -- Arcimboldo's paradoxical paintings and the origins of still life -- Conclusion: Arcimboldo in the history of art -- Appendix 1. Arcimboldo, the Facchini, and popular culture -- Appendix 2. Arcimboldo and Meda at Monza -- Appendix 3. Concordance of Arcimboldo images from the Aldrovandi letter, Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria, Dresden Kupferstich-Kabinett ca 213, Vienna (cod. min. 42) and the "museum" of Rudolf II (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. min. 129 and 130).