Autumn, 1573 Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Giuseppe Arcimboldo also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting Autumn is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

We offer free shipping as well as paid express transportation services.

After adding your artwork to the shopping cart, you will be able to check the delivery price using the Estimate Shipping and Tax tool.

The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

In Arcimboldo's "Autumn" of 1573, one encounters a remarkable fusion of naturalistic observation and fantastical imagination that speaks volumes about Habsburg court culture. The painting shimmers with the warm amber tones of harvest season, creating a portrait that's both whimsical and precisely calculated.

The artist constructs his autumnal figure from an astounding variety of seasonal bounty. A robust pear forms the nose, while perfectly ripe apples create the flushed cheeks. Clusters of grapes cascade down like elaborate Renaissance curls, their translucent skins catching light with remarkable delicacy. The wooden barrel forming the torso presents a clever play on period costume, while mushrooms and other autumn fruits complete this extraordinary physiognomy. Most striking is the bristling wheat beard - a technical tour de force that transforms grain into facial hair.

What's particularly fascinating about this version is its political context. Commissioned by Emperor Maximilian II as a gift for Augustus of Saxony, it represents sophisticated Habsburg diplomacy through art. The painting's frame of decorative garlands (a later addition) creates a window-like effect, enhancing the portrait's theatrical presence. The deep black background - characteristic of court portraiture - lends gravity to what might otherwise seem merely clever.

Arcimboldo's genius lies in how he maintains perfect balance between playful conceit and serious artistic purpose. Each carefully chosen fruit and vegetable serves both compositional and symbolic functions, creating a portrait that works simultaneously as face, still life, and allegory. The artist's profound understanding of Renaissance theories about the correspondence between microcosm and macrocosm transforms this apparently light-hearted exercise into a deeply considered meditation on nature's cycles and human governance.