Neptune commanding his sea chariot, the Four Seasons dancing at his corners — a breathtaking 2nd-century Roman mosaic from Tunisia, now one of the Bardo Museum’s greatest treasures.
Personification of Spring
A tiny Coptic tapestry panel at the Met transforms into a profound meditation on renewal — its personification of Spring bridging pagan tradition, early Christian symbolism, and the timeless cycle of life.
Winter by Giuseppe Arcimboldo
While in Vienna, to celebrate the reign of Emperor Maximilian II, Arcimboldo created his “ signature Portraits of the 4 Seasons,” composed of imaginatively arranging elements of nature like plants, flowers, fruits, and vegetables.
Autumn by Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Arcimboldo’s gloriously quizzical Autumn — berry-eyed, grape-crowned, emerging from a wine barrel — transforms harvest abundance into portraiture so inventive it astonishes five centuries later.
Summer by Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Vivaldi’s vivid Summer sonnet meets Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s allegorical portrait, where ripe fruits and vegetables form a lush, symbolic figure celebrating the season’s abundance and intensity.
Spring by Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, a Renaissance artist from Milan, gained fame for his imaginative portraits and court work, rising from early commissions to serve the Habsburg emperors in Vienna and Prague.