Description
Giuseppe Arcimboldo – Fire
| Year of creation: | 1566 |
| Original size: | 67 x 51 cm |
| Painting style: | Mannerism |
| Original technique: | Oil on panel |
| Located: | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
The oil on canvas Fire is particularly interesting, because on it Arcimboldo depicted different types of fire – from the small flame of an oil lamp, the slightly stronger flame of a candle, and all the way to the full destructive power of fire, which he showed with cannons and guns. Of all the paintings in the Natural Elements series, this painting has the most symbols representing the Austrian Imperial Family. The burning figure has a gold chain around his neck, which represented one of the most important orders of the time, on the lower edge of the painting, we can also see a double-headed eagle on the portrait’s dress, also a symbol of the Holy Roman Empire, while cannons and guns symbolize the great military power of the empire, which was at war with Turkey at that time.
The Four Elements
This painting belongs to a cycle. All four are available here:
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo – Fire
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo – Air
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo – Earth
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo – Water
As a matched group of four there is a single shared size today: 30 × 40 cm. Larger sizes exist for individual paintings, but not across all four at once.
More on both cycles as a wall group: Arcimboldo’s Four Seasons and Four Elements as a wall group
Fire is itemised here by degree: the small flame of an oil lamp for the eye, tinder and flint at the nose, burning logs for the hair, and at the shoulder a cannon barrel with the chain of the Golden Fleece. Up close it is an armoury; from across a room, a serious profile turned to the right. The original hangs in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Technique: oils on canvas, painted by hand; the oil painting reproduction is made to order.
