Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s Composite Portraits and the Alchemical Universe of the Early Modern Habsburg Court (1546-1612) By Rosalie Anne Nardelli A thesis submitted to the Graduate Program in Art History in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada July, 2014 Copyright © Rosalie Anne Nardelli, 2014 Abstract At the Renaissance noble court, particularly in the principalities of the Holy Roman Empire, alchemical pursuits were wildly popular and encouraged. By the reign of Rudolf II in the late sixteenth century, Prague had become synonymous with the study of alchemy, as the emperor, renowned for his interest in natural magic, welcomed numerous influential alchemists from across Europe to his imperial residence and private laboratory. Given the prevalence of alchemical activities and the ubiquity of the occult at the Habsburg court, it seems plausible that the art growing out of this context would have been shaped by this unique intellectual climate. In 1562, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, a previously little-known designer of windows and frescoes from Milan, was summoned across the Alps by Ferdinand I to fulfil the role of court portraitist in Vienna. Over the span of a quarter-century, Arcimboldo continued to serve faithfully the Habsburg family, working in various capacities for Maximilian II and later for his successor, Rudolf II, in Prague. As Arcimboldo developed artistically at the Habsburg court, he gained tremendous recognition for his composite portraits, artworks for which he is most well- known today. Through a focused investigation of his Four Seasons, Four Elements, and Vertumnus, a portrait of Rudolf II under the guise of the god of seasons and transformation, an attempt will be made to reveal the alchemical undercurrents present in Arcimboldo’s work. This is not to say that Arcimboldo’s puzzle portraits reference specific alchemical treatises, or that the artist participated actively in alchemical experiments. Rather, in their transformative configuration and subject matter, Arcimboldo’s composite portraits reflect the very ethos of alchemical philosophy and spirituality that so permeated the early modern Habsburg court, an intellectual environment to which he belonged and contributed for a considerable span of time. ii Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance of Dr. Cathleen Hoeniger, whose expertise, honest advice, and enthusiasm have made my graduate studies a rewarding experience. I would also like to thank Dr. Gauvin Bailey for his thought-provoking recommendations during the early stages of research. I am especially grateful to my family, including my parents, Tonina and Antonio Nardelli, and my brothers, Thomas and Joseph, for their unwavering support in all that I pursue. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues at Queen’s University for the inspiring conversations and fond memories. Finally, a special thank you is owed to Andy for his genuine interest and loving encouragement throughout this process. iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................... ............... ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................. ............... iii List of Illustrations .................................................................................. ............... v Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................ ............... 1 Chapter 2 The Ancient and Medieval Foundations of Early Modern Alchemy: Philosophies, Theories and Worldviews ................................ ............... 8 2.1 Defining Early Modern Alchemies .............................................. ............... 9 2.2 Ancient Element Theory and Worldviews ................................... ............... 15 2.3 Medieval Arabs and Alchemical Theory and Transmission ........ ............... 23 2.4 Element Theory Reinterpreted: Paracelsus, Medicine, and Alchemy in Sixteenth-Century Europe........................................................ ............... 27 2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................... ............... 30 Chapter 3 Alchemy in the Holy Roman Empire and at the Late Sixteenth- and Early Seventeenth-Century Habsburg Courts .................................. ............... 32 3.1 Alchemy in the late Sixteenth- and Early Seventeenth-Century Holy Roman Empire .................................................................... ............... 35 3.2 The Intellectual Landscape of Maximillian II’s Viennese Court. ............... 36 3.3 “The New Hermes Trismegistus”: Rudolf II, Alchemy, and the Prague Court ................................................................................ ............... 44 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................... ............... 52 Chapter 4 The Alchemical Universe and Arcimboldo’s Composite Portraits ........ 57 4.1 Arcimboldo as Artist-Intellect at the Habsburg Court ................. ............... 58 4.2 Arcimboldo’s Four Seasons and Four Elements as Symbols of Dynastic Power ............................................................................ ............... 64 4.3 Arcimboldo’s Four Seasons and Four Elements as Alchemical Imagery ........................................................................................ ............... 71 4.4 Arcimboldo’s Vertumnus as an Alchemical Tribute to Rudolf II ............... 75 4.5 The Composite Portraits and the Transformative World of the Kunstkammer ............................................................................... ............... 82 4.6 Conclusion ................................................................................... ............... 88 Chapter 5 Conclusion .............................................................................. ............... 102 Bibliography............................................................................................ ............... 107 iv List of Illustrations Chapter 2 1. Heinrich Khunrath, Oratory-Laboratory, double plate engraving from Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae, 1609. ............................................................... 32 2. Unknown artist, The Four Elements Symbolized, engraving featured in Petrus Bonus’s Pretiosa margarita novella, 1546. .............................................................. 33 Chapter 3 3. Wenceslas Seiler, Alchemical Medallion Produced for Leopold I, 1677, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum. ....................................................................................... 53 4. John Dee, Illustration of the Hieroglyphic Monad from the Monas Hierogliphica, 1564. ................................................................................................. 53 5. Wenzel Jamnitzer, The Four Seasons, gilt-bronze, 1578, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum. ....................................................................................... 54 6. Benvenuto Cellini, Saliera (salt cellar), 1540-43. Gold, enamelled, ebony, ivory, H. 26.3 cm x L 28.5 cm x W 21.5 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. ............ 55 7. Wenzel von Brozik, Rudolf II in the Laboratory of His Alchemist, oil on canvas, 1881, Wellcome Institute Library, London. .................................................. 56 Chapter 4 8. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Flora, 1589. Oil on panel, 80.4 x 60.6 cm. Private collection.............................................................................. 90 9. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Vertumnus (Emperor Rudolf II), 1590. Oil on panel, 68 x 56 cm. Skokloster Castle, Skokloster. ............................................................... 91 10. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Winter, 1563. Oil on panel, 66.6 x 50.5 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. ................................................ 92 11. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Spring, 1563-66. Oil on panel, 66 x 50 cm. Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid. ................... 93 12. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Summer, 1563. Oil on panel, 67 x 50.8 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. ................................................... 94 v 13. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Autumn (garland added later), 1573. Oil on panel, 72.5 x 59 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris. ..................................................................... 95 14. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Earth, 1566. Oil on panel, 70.2 x 48.7 cm. Private collection, Vienna. ............................................................... 96 15. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Air, 1566? Oil on canvas, 74.4 x 56 cm. Private collection, Basel. ..................................................................... 97 16. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Water, 1566. Oil on panel, 66.5 x 50.5 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. ............................................... 98 17. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Fire, 1566. Oil on panel, 66.5 x 51 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. .................................................. 99 18. Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Stag with violets, late 16th century. Watercolor. Collection of Manuscripts and Rare Books, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna. ............................................................. 100 19. Nikolaus Pfaff (attributed), Goblet with horns of warthog, Prague, 1611. Horn of white rhinoceros, tusks of African warthog, silver gilt, partly painted. 59.7 x 27.5 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. ................................................ 101 vi Chapter 1 Introduction If Arcimboldo’s composite portraits seem amusing to a modern audience, it is because they exist far removed from their original context of creation. In an attempt to better historicize the artist’s oeuvre, modern scholarship has strayed from the once common tendency of characterizing Arcimboldo as the father of surrealism and his puzzle portraits as mere curiosities. Art historians, most notably Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, have made concerted efforts to situate the composite portraits more firmly within Habsburg court culture, the very milieu in which they initially arose.1 Growing out of this approach, Arcimboldo’s works have, for example, been considered within the framework of sixteenth-century literature. Mindful of their evocative nature, the puzzle portraits have been compared to similarly communicative early modern literary forms. For instance, as images that substitute human features with parallel objects, such as a human ear with a seashell, Arcimboldo’s compositions have been described as visualisations of the kind of fantastical metaphor typical of sixteenth-century Petrarchan poems.2 1 Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Arcimboldo; Visual Jokes, Natural History, and Still-Life Painting (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2009), 7. In a retreat from ahistorical discussions of the composite portraits, the paintings have also been considered in light of earlier and contemporaneous art forms. For example, the bizarre nature of Arcimboldo’s composite portraits has been attributed to the possible influence of Roman grotesques (Kaufmann, Visual Jokes, 103). Furthermore, in their unique configuration, they have also been compared to Indian Mughal miniatures of fantastic animals. Similar to the composite portraits, the Mughal paintings feature intertwined human and animal elements that form an overall seamless whole, such as an elephant. The connection between the Mughal miniatures and Arcimboldo’s composite heads requires further research. In the absence of compelling evidence, it nevertheless seems plausible that the artist might have encountered Indian composite figures in the imperial Kunstkammer and could have derived from them inspiration for his own work [Donald F. Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe; A Century of Wonder, 3 vols. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1970), 2:77; Francesco Porizio, L’universo illusorio di Arcimboldo (Milan: Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, 1987), 14-16]. 2 Kaufmann, Visual Jokes, 93-94. 1 If attempts have been made to reconcile Arcimboldo’s paintings with the literature that would have been known to the humanist circles assembled at the Habsburg court, others have, in a similar vein, established links between the composite portraits and early modern natural history. The investigation of natural specimens of all varieties was fervently encouraged by the Habsburg emperor, Maximillian II, and his successor, Rudolf II. Indeed, a number of physician-botanists who enjoyed the support of the learned Habsburg rulers made considerable contributions to the field of natural history during the late sixteenth century.3 It is partially through these intellectual endeavours that the central European court gained the status of a late humanist one par excellence. The faithful rendering of a variety of naturalia in Arcimboldo’s composite subjects has been cited as evidence for the artist’s informed participation in natural history at the Habsburg court.4 If extant documents suggest that Arcimboldo offered his skills as an illustrator to botanists seeking to record the appearance of natural life in great detail, some have been tempted to argue that such collaborative relationships actively shaped the artist’s independent projects.5 Although Arcimboldo’s paintings have been connected in convincing ways to developments in natural history, their relation to other prominent fields of study, such as alchemy, has not always been readily acknowledged. For instance, Kaufmann has asserted that the association between Arcimboldo’s work and Rudolf II’s alleged reputation as a melancholic eccentric is an “irresistible source of misinterpretation”.6 Indeed, according to him, the connection made by Hans Holzer between Arcimboldo’s Vertumnus, a composite 3 Some of the contributions to the field of natural history made by the court’s humanist scholars will be mentioned with greater specificity in Chapter 2. 4 Kaufmann, Visual Jokes, 115-47. 5 Kaufmann, Visual Jokes, 122-24. 6 Kaufmann, Imperial Allegories, 275 2 portrait of Rudolf II, and the latter’s demonstrable delight in the alchemical arts is not only misguided, but also symptomatic of prevailing romantic misconceptions of the emperor.7 And yet, at the Renaissance noble court, particularly in the principalities of the Holy Roman Empire, alchemical pursuits were wildly popular and encouraged. Under the reign of Rudolf II, the imperial city of Prague had become synonymous with the study of alchemy, as the emperor, renowned for his interests in the occult, welcomed numerous influential alchemists from across Europe to his palace and private laboratory.8 Recognizing that “the nexus between alchemy and art at Rudolf’s court has not [yet] been adequately examined”, Sally Metzler puts forward a response to this clear gap in the literature.9 In her article, “Artists, Alchemists and Mannerists in Courtly Prague”, the author acknowledges the presence of hermeticism as “a pervasive intellectual and spiritual force during the flowering of the Prague Mannerists” in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.10 Bearing in mind the centrality of occultism in Rudolfine Prague, Metzler explores the various ways in which Arcimboldo’s composite portraits, along with the works of other court artists, such as those by Bartholomäus Spranger, evoke alchemy visually. Arcimboldo’s puzzle portraits do not form the sole focus of the article, but are employed instead to bolster a larger analysis of Mannerism at the Habsburg court. Using Metzler’s 7 Concerning Arcimboldo’s Vertumnus, Holzer writes: “Giuseppe Arcimboldo created a portrait of the Emperor in which Rudolf is shown in the disguise of the Etruscan agricultural deity Vertumnus. Very few people would have understood the allusion, but Rudolf was a learned man…and he was aware of the fact that Vertumnus was the brother of Hermes Trismegistus, the patron of alchemy” [Hans Holzer, The Alchemist; The Secret Magical Life of Rudolf von Habsburg (New York, NY: Stein and Day Publishers, 1974), 42]. 8 François Antonovich, L’art à la cour de Rodolphe II du Saint Empire Romain Germanique; Prague et son rayonnement (Paris, FR: Imprimerie Blanchard fils, 1992), 1. 9 Sally Metzler, “Artists, Alchemists and Mannerists in Courtly Prague,” in Art & Alchemy, ed. Jacob Wamberg (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006), 130. 10 Metzler, “Artists, Alchemists,” 130. 3 article as a starting point, the thesis will contribute a more elaborate investigation of how alchemical principles surface in Arcimboldo’s composite paintings, while also exploring the nature of alchemy as it was patronized and practiced under the Habsburg crown during Arcimboldo’s significant stay at court. The re-examination of authors, works, and ideas in terms of the history of alchemy has become widespread over the last decade. No longer considered as a mere impediment to the development of a proper scientific method, alchemy, and the broader interest in the occult that characterized most of the early modern period, have come to be regarded as crucial precursors to the ‘Scientific Revolution’.11 Though the modern tendency is to distinguish the magical from the scientific, as Stanton Linden makes clear, “alchemy was at the heart of the thought and method of… [the] pioneers of modern science”.12 As a result of its newfound prominence, the so-called “golden art” has been readily incorporated into significant interdisciplinary enterprises and has propelled new scholarship in areas, such as: literature, religious studies, philosophy, history, and the history of medicine. The arguments presented in this thesis coincide with the growing recognition of alchemy as a fruitful avenue for scholarly investigation, particularly of the art historical kind. Upon considering Arcimboldo’s famous composite portraits, specifically those produced for Holy Roman Emperors Maximillian II and Rudolf II, it becomes clear that both the practical and the spiritual aspects of alchemy surface in meaningful ways in his work. This is not to say, however, that Arcimboldo’s paintings reference specific alchemical treatises, nor that the 11 Allen G. Debus, Man and Nature in the Renaissance (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1978), 2. 12 Stanton J. Linden, “Introduction,” in The Alchemy Reader; From Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton, ed. Stanton J. Linden (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 1-2. 4