Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s Composite Portraits and the Alchemical Universe of the Early Modern Habsburg Court (1546-1612)
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Authors
Nardelli, Rosalie
Date
2014-07-10
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
Rudolf II , Arcimboldo , Maximillian II , Alchemy , Habsburg
Alternative Title
Abstract
At the Renaissance noble court, particularly in the principalities of the Holy Roman Empire, alchemical pursuits were wildly popular and encouraged. By the reign of Rudolf II in the late sixteenth century, Prague had become synonymous with the study of alchemy, as the emperor, renowned for his interest in natural magic, welcomed numerous influential alchemists from across Europe to his imperial residence and private laboratory. Given the prevalence of alchemical activities and the ubiquity of the occult at the Habsburg court, it seems plausible that the art growing out of this context would have been shaped by this unique intellectual climate.
In 1562, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, a previously little-known designer of windows and frescoes from Milan, was summoned across the Alps by Ferdinand I to fulfil the role of court portraitist in Vienna. Over the span of a quarter-century, Arcimboldo continued to serve faithfully the Habsburg family, working in various capacities for Maximilian II and later for his successor, Rudolf II, in Prague. As Arcimboldo developed artistically at the Habsburg court, he gained tremendous recognition for his composite portraits, artworks for which he is most well-known today. Through a focused investigation of his Four Seasons, Four Elements, and Vertumnus, a portrait of Rudolf II under the guise of the god of seasons and transformation, an attempt will be made to reveal the alchemical undercurrents present in Arcimboldo’s work. This is not to say that Arcimboldo’s puzzle portraits reference specific alchemical treatises, or that the artist participated actively in alchemical experiments. Rather, in their transformative configuration and subject matter, Arcimboldo’s composite portraits reflect the very ethos of alchemical philosophy and spirituality that so permeated the early modern Habsburg court, an intellectual environment to which he belonged and contributed for a considerable span of time.
Description
Thesis (Master, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2014-07-09 19:46:40.606
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