Bizarre paintings are making a comeback after more than 500 years

From a distance, many of these look like normal portraits. But take a closer look and you’ll see that Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s paintings, dating back to the 16th century, are anything but “normal.”

Arcimboldo created bizarre portraits by combining flora and fauna into beautiful, sometimes eerie, works of art. There’s ‘Water,’ for example, which creates the head and upper body of a woman by combining various aquatic life, or ‘Fire,’ which groups various cannons, pistols, and other firearms to create another woman. ‘Winter,’ on the other hand, combines ivy and other flora into a beautiful portrait.

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The Smithsonian called Arcimboldo “part scientist, part sycophant, part visionary” not long after his work was shown at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 2011. His work is currently on display (through February 15, 2015) at Austria’s Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Source

Source: designfaves.com

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