Description
Admiral is a head in profile built from creatures of the water, in the manner of Giuseppe Arcimboldo: long eels coil round the top of the head, small fish are heaped on the crown, a large fish forms the cheek, and the neck and chest are filled with fish and shells. We make it as a hand-painted reproduction in oil on canvas, in two sizes, 30 x 40 cm and 40 x 50 cm, or a size of your own, and you receive a photograph of the finished painting for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | Admiral |
| Painter: | in the manner of Giuseppe Arcimboldo |
| Original technique: | not confirmed – without an institution’s record we make no claim about the original’s technique |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, two sizes, 30 x 40 cm and 40 x 50 cm, custom size on request |
We could not verify a published record of this painting at any institution, so we have no measured dimensions and no inventory number to rely on. That is why you will not find a year of execution, a collection name or an accession number on this page. About the original, we say only what can be checked against an institution or on the painting itself.
Admiral – in the manner of Giuseppe Arcimboldo
What does the painting show?
A head and chest in profile, facing the left edge, on an almost black ground. Nothing in it is a face in the usual sense: it is built from fish, eels and shells, set so closely together that from a distance they close into one head. The title, Admiral, names no one, and no record we could check says who, if anyone, is meant, so we do not give the figure a name. The dark ground swallows the edges, and the pale bodies of the fish carry the light. The composition leaves a wide band of empty dark ground above the head and in front of the face, so that the profile stands free and nothing crowds it from the edges.
What is the head made of?
Several long eels coil round the top of the head, like a band or a turban. Above them, small fish are heaped on the crown, their heads and eyes turned in different directions. A large fish forms the cheek, and smaller fish sit at the nose and the mouth. The ear is a pale, curled shape. At the right, where the jaw would be, a large fish rises with its mouth open. The neck and the chest are heaped with small fish, scallop and cockle shells and a spiral snail shell, and at the lower right lie larger, paler fish. Along the bottom edge runs a blue-grey fish. The palette is warm browns and pale pinkish tones against the black, with the grey-blue of the fish along the bottom edge and at the lower right as the cooler notes.
Why is this painting special?
Because the whole head comes from the water. Where a portrait would show skin, hair and a collar, here there are eels for the hair, fish for the face and shells for the chest. Close up, each fish is painted on its own, with its eye and its fins; from a distance, the parts close into a single, calm profile. Several of the small fish on the crown show a bright eye, turned in different directions. The eels do much of the work: their long, smooth bodies draw the curve of the skull, the way a band of cloth would. How Arcimboldo built his composed heads is the subject of our article about Arcimboldo.
What does the painting mean?
The simplest reading comes from the material itself: a figure of the sea, made from what the sea yields. A second reading, prompted by the title, sees in it a joke on rank, a commander of ships who is himself nothing but his catch. Both readings are ours, not sourced statements; we offer them only as interpretations.
The motif among the painter’s works
Among Arcimboldo’s four elements is a head made of sea creatures. Water, held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, which publishes its record, is also a head in profile built from fish, a ray, a crab, coral, a turtle and an octopus, with a string of pearls. Compared side by side, the painting we paint is not that work: it has no string of pearls round the neck, no red coral on the head, and different fish. The museum reads the elements together with the seasons and pairs Water with Winter, a head made of an old tree stump, which it also holds. Our versions of both are on the shelf: Water and Winter, together with Fire. All of our Arcimboldo paintings are gathered on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo page.
How is our hand-painted version made?
Every copy is hand-painted in oil on canvas; none is printed. Admiral is demanding because of the dark: most of the head sits in deep browns against a nearly black ground, and the painter has to keep each fish readable without lifting the whole into daylight. Our painter first lays in the ground and the outline of the profile, then the large bodies, the eels and the big fish of the cheek and jaw, and only then the small things, the eyes, the fins and the ribs of the shells. The highlights on the scales come last, because they decide where the eye goes. The eels need the most patience: each one is a long, even curve that must stay smooth over its whole length, and a single uneven stroke would break the line of the skull. We therefore paint them in several thin layers, letting each one dry before the next. The brushstrokes stay visible close up, and no two copies are ever quite the same.
Which size for which wall?
We paint Admiral in two sizes, 30 x 40 cm and 40 x 50 cm. The 30 x 40 cm suits a narrow wall, a hallway or a place above a desk, where it is seen from close by. The 40 x 50 cm holds its own on a wall above a sideboard or in a study, and it gives the eels and shells a little more room. Both are best seen from close by, where the small creatures reward a closer look. Because the ground is so dark, a place with good light helps either size. A frame with a narrow dark or gilded profile holds the edge of the dark ground, while a wide pale frame makes the black of the background look deeper. If the painting is to hang beside other works, the 40 x 50 cm gives the head enough weight not to disappear among them. We give no size for the original, because we could not verify one.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
If neither of the two sizes fits, we paint in the size you ask for; send width and height through the paintings made to order page and we will prepare a quote. The painting is delivered stretched on a wooden stretcher bar and ready to hang, or rolled in a tube. You choose the frame on this page: the 3D frame selector offers 62 profiles, and the painting can also be ordered without a frame.
Delivery and guarantee
We paint to order, so each oil painting reproduction takes a few weeks, depending on size and on how busy the workshop is. We ship to sixteen countries in the European Union. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished painting; if something is not as you expected, we correct it before it goes out, at no extra cost.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original?
We could not verify any institution’s record of the painting Admiral, so we name no place. We state only what we can check.
Who is shown in the work?
No one we can name: the title Admiral names no person, and no record we could check says who, if anyone, is meant. The head is made of eels, fish and shells.
Is this the Water in Vienna?
No. Compared with Arcimboldo’s Water in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Admiral we paint is a different composition, with no string of pearls, no red coral on the head and different fish.
Is this a print?
No. Every copy is painted by hand, in oil on canvas.
Which size should I choose?
For a place seen from close by, 30 x 40 cm; for a little more presence on the wall, 40 x 50 cm.
Can I have a size that is not listed?
You can. We also paint in sizes that are not listed; send width and height through the custom order page.
How is it delivered?
Stretched on a wooden stretcher bar and ready to hang, or rolled in a tube.
What is the work about, in one sentence?
Admiral is a head in profile made entirely from creatures of the water: eels, fish and shells.
Is the original for sale and what is it worth?
We do not know: we could not verify who holds the original of Admiral, so we can say nothing about a sale or a value.
How high should I hang it?
Centre it about 145 cm from the floor; over furniture, with the lower edge 20 to 30 cm above it.
Is it suitable as a gift?
It is, and if you cannot pick a size you can give a gift voucher instead, leaving the choice to whoever receives it.
- Subject: a head in profile made of eels, fish and shells, with eels coiled round the top of the head and shells on the chest.
- Original: we could not verify an institution’s record of the original, so we give no year, size or place.
- Ours: a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas, in 30 x 40 cm or 40 x 50 cm or your own size, with a photograph for approval before dispatch. You choose the frame on this page, or order the painting without one.
- Worth knowing: the painting we paint is not the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s Water; compared side by side, it is a different composition.
