Image Prompts For The Signs

Image Prompts for the Signs

Aries / Taurus

Flora
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
1588

Flora is one of Arcimboldo’s most famous paintings, painted at the same time as Vertumnus, when he was at the height of his career. Although his work was forgotten after his death, over the last 100 years it has grown in popularity to be included in many contemporary forms.

Gemini / Cancer

Portrait of Eve
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Date: 1578

Portrait of Adam
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
1578

Leo / Virgo

Summer
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Date: 1563

Arcimboldo made many renditions as himself of the fours seasons, with winter being dry broken twigs and rock, spring full of flowers and new growth, summer full of fresh and fully ripe fruits and vegetables, and autumn being images of the harvest. Perhaps the fruity images of summer are best known.

Libra / Scorpio

Water
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
1566

Employing the images of water creatures, this painting is more than jut a collection of fish. In the portrait, Arcimboldo ingeniously combines water creatures, coral, and shells into a depiction of an older woman. His use of pearls to form a necklace and earring is a smart way to include jewelry on his subject, at the same time as keeping with his water theme, as they are also products of the sea. Arcimboldo’s paintings were all subtle masks of images made up to be something else.

Sagittarius / Capricorn

The Lawyer
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
1566

The Jurist (Italian: L'Avvocato), also known as The Lawyer, is an oil-on-canvas painting by Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo, painted in 1566.

It shows a member of the legal profession, whose facial features are depicted using meat and fish, and whose body is composed of legal documents. Two versions of the painting exist; the first, from 1566, is held by the National Museum of Fine Arts (Nationalmuseum) in Stockholm (acquired from a collection at Gripsholm Castle in 1866), and a later version is held by a private collector in Milan.

The features of the face are represented by the plucked carcasses of poultry and the sneering mouth by fish. It is not known if the subject is a caricature of the legal profession in general or based on a real jurist of the time. The German jurist Ulrich Zasius is normally suggested as the subject; the Nationalmuseum lists the picture in its catalogue as The Lawyer (Ulrich Zasius), but Calvin has also been suggested. Arcimboldo's portrait of The Librarian (Il Bibliotecario), painted the same year, has a more noble aspect, although this portrait too has been interpreted as a parody of librarianship, book collectors, and intellectualism.

Aquarius / Pisces

Vertumnus (Emperor Rudolph II)
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
1591

The Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II, who commissioned this painting, loved to have his portrait taken, and is said to have stared on end in rapture at the great masterpieces. He thus had his portrait painted by many of the best artists of his day, including Hans von Aachen, Adrian de Vries, and Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Rudolph had collected such a vast amount of paintings that his collection was one of the greatest in Europe. In his typical style, Arcimboldo created Rudolph’s image as the character of Vertumnus, the Roman God of plant life, growth, and the change of seasons, compiled of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The Librarian
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
1566

Not only did Arcimboldo use fruits, vegetables, plants, and animals as objects for the compilations in his paintings, he also used inanimate objects such as books and papers. The Librarian is one such painting. In this painting, Arcimboldo’s subject is obvious: a lover of books made up out of books. This is an example of the painter’s ability to be less literal. Whereas in other paintings, he shaped singular pieces of fruit or meat into the eyes, nose, or curve of the chin, in this painting, the pile of books only resembles a person, and upon closer inspection, the features become less clear. This is an example of Arcimboldo’s great talent of disguising his objects into the form of a person, or as in this case, disguising his person into the form of his objects.

If this prompt inspires you in any way, do tag me or send me a link. I'd love to read your work!

Artwork by Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526 – 1593)

Born into a family of painters in the northern Italian city of Milan.

Remains best known for the highly original “portraits” he composed by imaginatively arranging objects, plants, animals, and other elements of nature.

The Seasons

In The Seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter), created in 1563, Arcimboldo combined plants associated with a particular season to form a portrait of that time of year.

The series was extremely popular in the Habsburg court, and Arcimboldo reproduced it several times so the emperor could send versions to friends and important political figures.

The 4 Elements

Three years later he completed a series on the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water).

The Professions

Arcimboldo also made witty composite portraits of different professions, such as a librarian, jurist, cook, and vegetable gardener, using objects associated with each occupation.

In these innovative works, Arcimboldo fills the paintings with dense details that come together harmoniously to create a human form.

A Fusion of Art & Science

When Arcimboldo arrived at the court of Emperor Maximilian II, he found his new patron was passionately interested in the biological sciences of botany & zoology.

The study of flora and fauna grew as a result of the voyages of exploration and discovery that were undertaken to the New World, Africa, and Asia in the sixteenth century.

Explorers returned with exotic plants and animals that created an explosion of European interest in the study of nature.

Maximilian transformed his court into a center of scientific study, bringing together scientists and philosophers from all over Europe.

His botanical gardens and his zoological parks with elephants, lions, and tigers caused a sensation.

As court painter to the emperor, Arcimboldo had access to these vast collections of rare flora and fauna.

His nature studies show his skill and precision as an illustrator and his knowledge as a naturalist — but Arcimboldo went beyond illustration by building fantastic faces out of the natural specimens he observed.

His paintings not only demonstrate a unique fusion of art and science, but they also provide an encyclopedia of the plants and animals that Maximilian acquired for his botanical garden and menagerie.

Image Prompts For The Signs