Most Italian Renaissance painters are known for their naturalistic portrayals, often showing off their skills in perspective, dynamism, or tenebrism. Giuseppe Arcimboldo took a decidedly different approach. While some artists focused on portraying still lives and others dealt specifically in portraiture or scenes from history or the Bible, Arcimboldo incorporated elements of all these into his work. He is best known for his portrait heads, which are clearly human subjects, but made entirely with fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, and even books. He arranged the inanimate objects to portray a living person.

Born in 1527 to a moderately successful Milan painter by the name of Biagio, Arcimboldo learned alongside his father. His early talent for painting and his family connections led to his appointment as student to Leonardo Da Vinci. By the time he was in his twenties he began receiving commissions to work in stained glass for churches. A little later he was hired to assist Giuseppe Meda in the execution of frescoes for the Cathedral of Monza. His unique ideas came to the attention of the Italian nobility, and then to the Habsburg family. At the request of Ferdinant I, he came to Vienna, and then later went to Prague to work for Maximilian II. Much of Arcimboldo's work was quite conventional, but he had a whimsical side and enjoyed the challenge of unique interpretations of a portrait subject. During his many years as a court painter, he created so many royal and noble portraits that he turned to the inanimate object-inspired portraits as a tongue-in-cheek way to relieve tedium. However, he was more often busy than unoccupied. One of his major responsibilities during his twenty-five years working in the Italian courts included designing the settings for elaborate royal events.

He was responsible for designing and having built gilded champagne fountains, flocks of specifically-colored birds, theatrical and musical staging, ornate paintings and sculptures, as well as special effects, including machinery. He later served as a significant inspiration to the artist Caravaggio. Many years later his work influenced prominent twentieth-century artists such as Salvador Dali and Sandro del Prete.Three of Arcimboldo's most famous works include "The Librarian" (1566), "Vertumnus" (1590), and "Flora" (1591). Today his work is displayed in museums all over the world, including the Louvre, the Uffizi Gallery, and museums in Colorado and Texas. His innovative portraits remain popular today, even with children, as they present the fun challenge of locating and naming all the flowers, animals, and other non-human objects portrayed in the paintings.