god of harvests and abundance

this masterpiece is of fantasy and imagination by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (Italian painter 1530-1593). The mythical Vertemnus (or Vortumnus), god of harvests and abundance, is in fact a bizarre portrait of the Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II. In the sixteenth century the emperor's cosmopolitan court in Prague became a centre of international art, where Arcimboldo moved in the refined and exclusive circles of late European Mannerism. His painting might appear almost irreverent, but in fact is the manifestation of his eager search for new ideas and his exploration of different ways of expression. (It also gives quite a good impression of the Emperor.) This led him to break the usual rules in order to provoke uncensored reactions and emotions.