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Fruit and veg portrait leads show of Renaissance faces
Ellen Widdup07.10.08
This painting of fruit and vegetables is a 16th century portrait of a king.
The painting is one of more than 70 masterpieces in a new exhibition at the National Gallery. It was commissioned by Emperor Rudolph II, king of Bohemia, Austria, to show his reign as natural and harmonious.
The Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo took the brief literally, creating cheeks out of apples, pea pods for eyelids and dressing him in clothes of flowers and vegetables.
It is the first time the portrait has been seen in the UK as it normally hangs in Skoklosters Castle in Sweden. A spokesman for the National Gallery said it was thrilled to add it to the Renaissance Faces event, which opens next week.
"This is a landmark exhibition exploring the dramatic rise of portraiture through the Renaissance," he said. "The exhibition provides fresh insights into fundamental issues of likeness, memory and identity, while revealing a remarkable community of Renaissance personalities."
The exhibition includes work by Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Van Eyck, Holbein, Dürer, Lotto, Pontormo and Bellini alongside that of Arcimboldo.
It includes sculptures, drawings and medals as well as oil paintings.
Exhibits include Holbein's A Lady With A Squirrel And A Starling; Boy Holding A Drawing by Giovanni Francesco Caroto; and Maerten van Heemskreck's Portrait Of A Lady With A Spindle And Distaff.
Renaissance Faces: Van Eyck to Titian opens in the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, on 15 October and runs until 18 January. With admission charge.
