Daily Dose of Art #10: Giuseppe Arcimboldo – Summer (1563)

The cheek and neck area are composed of a large peach, quince, garlic, white young onions, yellow beets and white eggplant; the mouth and lips are formed of cherries and the open peapod within imitates a row of teeth. The nose is a young wild cucumber and the chin is a pear; the eye shines as a glassy sour cherry between two small pears. The bulge of the forehead seems to be made of brown-skinned onions; even the eyebrows – a curved grain-ear – are not overlooked. On the temple are three hazelnuts in their covers, and in the place of the ear is a dried corncob. The ensemble is completed with a head covering, effectively a cap or a hat made of fruit and vegetables bedded in greenery, from which emerge oat spikes resembling a hat feather. The clothing in woven straw has a single artichoke and the woven signature and date sophisticatedly integrated into the composition as jewellery.