Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Giuseppe Arcimboldo painted heads built entirely from things: fruit, vegetables, flowers, fish, books. From a distance you see a face in profile, close up you see a pear for a nose or a fish for a cheek. His series of the Four Seasons and the Four Elements are the best-known examples.

He was born in Milan in 1527, the son of a painter, and began by designing stained glass and frescoes for Milan Cathedral. In 1562 he went to Vienna as court portraitist to Emperor Ferdinand I and went on serving Maximilian II and Rudolf II in Prague, also designing costumes and festivals. His Vertumnus, a portrait of Rudolf II as the Roman god of the seasons, is his most famous work. He returned to Milan and died there in 1593. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the Louvre hold key paintings.

In Autumn or Air, try counting the separate objects. The fun is finding how many there are.