Portraits for the Holy Roman Emperor

From 1565, Arcimboldo was a long-tenured portraitist of Emperor Maximilian II, first in Vienna and later in Prague. In 1576, he was named "portraitist and painter" of the new emperor, Rudolf II. In 1587 he returned to his native city Milan.

Around the middle of the sixteenth century, court portraiture throughout Europe had a homogeneous form, wherein the full-figure portrait dominated as the most representative form. Accordingly, smaller-format portraits, half-figures and busts have more private character, in which case the demand for likeness predominates over the representative function.

Among the enormous quantity of anonymous portraits that were created at the Habsburg court and which have been preserved till today, a group of paintings can be attributed to Arcimboldo. The most important painting in this group is the family portrait of Emperor Maximilian II. A closely related series, depicting young girls, possibly the daughters of Ferdinand I, belongs to this group, too.