Giuseppe Arcimboldo

In 1548, at the age of 21, he began his career as a designer for stained glass and frescoes in Milanese cathedrals, following in the footsteps of his artist father, Biagio.¹

In 1562, he moved to Vienna and served as a court portraitist for three Holy Roman Emperors: Ferdinand I, Maximilian II, and later Rudolf II in Prague.¹

During the Thirty Years' War in 1648, many of his paintings were taken from Rudolf II's collection as loot by the Swedish army and dispersed across Europe.¹

After centuries of oblivion, his work was rediscovered in the early 20th century by Surrealists like Salvador Dalí, who admired his visual puns and double images.¹