Follower of Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Probably private collection, Sweden, before 1977;

Bolenstein collection, Amsterdam;

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 4 July 1996, lot 381 (as after Giuseppe Arcimboldo);

Where probably acquired by the previous owner.

Probably A.P. de Mandiargues and Y. David, Arcimboldo le merveilleux, Paris 1977, p. 54.

Complete sets of Arcimboldo's instantly recognisable figures of the Seasons appear rarely at auction – this series is one of only four sets to have come to the market in over 30 years.¹ Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526–1593), Milanese by birth, produced some of the most memorable paintings of the 16^th century, the resonance of which has been felt through generations of artists ever since, the surreal nature of his anthropomorphic figures finding echoes in the works of the likes of Salvador Dalí and Max Ernst. Arcimboldo was celebrated at the courts of Prague and Vienna, where in 1563 he produced for the Emperor Maximilian II his first set of highly unusual personifications of the Seasons, of which only the panels depicting Summer and Winter now remain in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.² Maximilian subsequently commissioned a set to thank Augustus, Elector of Saxony, for his political support, for which Arcimboldo received payment in 1574; these are the four paintings on canvas, today in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, on which the present set is based.³

This series most probably dates to the 17^th century, by which time multiple versions of Arcimboldo's famous paintings had been produced. In both the Vienna and Paris paintings, Arcimboldo weaves his signature and the dates into the wheat collars and shoulders of the figures of Summer, and the shoulders of the figures of Winter are emblazoned with an 'M' (for Maximilian) and crossed swords of Meissen (the Saxon coat-of-arms), respectively.

The compositions may be read as flattering political allegories representing Maximilian's harmonious reign over his people, and by extension the Seasons. Later versions, like this set, were most likely produced for the open market, which undoubtedly saw a demand for these iconic, decorative and amusing images.

¹ A comparable set was sold London, Sotheby's, 6 July 2023, lot 108, for £127,000; https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/old-master-and-19th-century-paintings-day-auction-part-i/the-four-seasons

² Summer: https://www.khm.at/en/objectdb/detail/71/; and Winter: https://www.khm.at/en/objectdb/detail/72/

³ Spring: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010065015; Summer: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010064968; Autumn: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010065017; and Winter: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010064967