Food Art #2: Giuseppe Arcimboldo

I’m one of those people who believe in cooking as a science. That said, I’ve a lot of respect for the artistry involved – the creativity required to experiment with textures, flavors, and colors; the beauty of a well-presented meal; and the concept of the plate as a blank canvas.

Artists throughout history have seen the beauty inherent in food, which has been a recurring subject for 17th- century still-life maestros to avant-garde artists like Andy Warhol, who immortalized Campbell’s soup cans in the 1960s.

In this series, I showcase the old and the new, the oddball as well as the classical, in an attempt to get us to view food as nourishment for body and soul.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo: You Are What You Eat!

Self Portrait

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was an Italian Renaissance painter most famous for his portraits of human heads crafted from fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, birds, and animals.

Arcimboldo, the son of a painter, began his career painting stained glass windows in Milan, his hometown. We may never know what inspired him to paint these images; what we do know is that they are cleverly and skilfully executed, beautiful, and reveal their secrets in layers – just like a well-prepared dish.

More works like those below can be viewed here.

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