Private Collection c/o Pandora Old Masters Inc.

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Apollo, Phaeton, and the Seasons

Pietro Fancelli · c. 1793 · graphite, pen and brown ink, and gray wash on laid paper, squared for transfer ·  Accession ID  2005.126.1.a

Pietro Fancelli, Studies of Aurora and Apollo, 1794, pen and brown ink, squared for transfer, William B. O'Neal Fund, 2005.126.1.b

Studies of Aurora and Apollo

Pietro Fancelli · 1794 · pen and brown ink, squared for transfer ·  Accession ID  2005.126.1.b

In this vertical painting, a tree trunk, branches, plants, fruit, and flowers are arranged to create the head, neck, and chest of an old person, like a portrait. The face and shoulders are angled to our left against a black background. The ash-brown tree trunk is the head with stumps to represent the long, bulbous nose, protruding chin, and ear. The eyes and mouth are sunken in deep shadow. Smaller bumps and the rough texture of the bark of the skin resembles warts or other imperfections. Flax-yellow moss or fungi grows on the chin and head, creating the impression of short hair. Branches grow up from the top of the head like antlers or a tall crown. On our left, green and purple grapes sit among the branches and stumps on the head while red apples and pears sit on our right. Ivy grows up on branch behind the apples. Two red cherries dangle from the small stub of the ear we can see. Pale pink, red, and white flowers on the chest make a garment. Sheaves of wheat hang down from branches protruding from the neck over the flowers. The artist signed the painting with black letters where bark has peeled away from a branch to our upper right, "ARCIMBOLDUS F."
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Four Seasons in One Head, c. 1590, oil on panel, Paul Mellon Fund, 2010.77.1

Four Seasons in One Head

Giuseppe Arcimboldo · c. 1590 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  2010.77.1