"No artist is ahead of his time. He is his time. It is just that the others are behind the time." - Martha Graham

Animal Face in the style of Arcimboldo

Sea Creature Face painted by Guiseppe ArcimboldoWe've looked at the paintings of Guiseppe Arcimboldo, an Italian artist who lived in the 1500's, several times here at Artsology. We've looked at Arcimboldo's Unusual Portraits, we've seen how Arcimboldo makes us ask: which way is up??, and we've even made Our Own Arcimboldo Food Face.

We find his art very fascinating and fun to view, as he makes portraits of people using everything from flowers, sticks, books, and even sea animals (see painting at right, or scroll down for a huge version).



Below is an Arcimboldo-inspired portrait (by an unknown artist) which presents you with a fun challenge: how many animals can you find depicted in this face? We'll tell you the answer: there are 28 animals, and we'll even give you a list ... but the question is, can you find them all?


Here's the list of the 28 animals in the picture at right.

  • goose
  • elephant
  • hedgehog
  • chameleon
  • dolphin
  • snail
  • gopher
  • fox
  • sloth
  • crocodile
  • thrush
  • snake
  • turtle
  • whale
  • kangaroo
  • boa
  • parrot
  • shellfish
  • pelican
  • starfish
  • grasshopper
  • horse
  • hare
  • tiger
  • monkey
  • bird
  • peacock
  • bear
animal face in the style of Guiseppe Arcimboldo


All right, we know it wasn't really fair to show you that tiny Arcimboldo picture above and expect you to get much out of it. You really need to see it big, and so here it is in full glory. How many animals can you find in this? (we don't have an answer for this ...)


sea animal portrait by Guiseppe Arcimboldo
sea animal portrait by Guiseppe Arcimboldo
sea animal portrait by Guiseppe Arcimboldo
sea animal portrait by Guiseppe Arcimboldo
sea animal portrait by Guiseppe Arcimboldo





Salvador Dali at Artsology Artsology offers free online games about the arts, and delivers investigations into topics in the visual arts, music, and literature. Artsology is a good resource for fun learning about the arts for people of all ages and is enjoyed by students, homeschoolers, and adults. Follow us on Twitter or become a fan of our Facebook page. Miles Davis at Artsology

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