Giuseppe Arcimboldo was a talented 16th century Italian artist whose work included court portraitist, decorator, and costume designer. It was, however, his unique and unusual portraits that he is best known for, where fruits, vegetables, plant material and other unexpected objects were assembled to create human representations. While this might seem out of the ordinary, his greatly admired paintings were made during the Renaissance, a period where lots of unusual explorations in art took place. Needless to say, this project was a hit. Kids loved the idea of making their art and eating it too.
Vertemnus by Giuseppe Arcimboldo. 1590. Photo: http://www.arthistory.about.com
Materials
- surface to create your portrait on, like a tray
- selection of fruits, vegetables, plant material like flowers
- camera to photograph your portrait
Instructions
1. Use the internet and search for “Giuseppe Arcimboldo” to find images of his work, so you gain an understanding of how he assembled these materials to create facial features. When doing your research, make note of what Arcimboldo used to create these features in his portraits, like pea pod eyelids or strawberry lips.
2. When collecting fruits, vegetables, and flowers for this project, your best bet is to have a variety of sizes and colour options available so you can easily represent all the facial features. And be resourceful. Hunt around your home or garden as a starting point.
3. Lay your items out and play with different combinations until your face comes to life. Since this will definitely not last like Arcimboldo’s paintings, make sure you take some photographs. A framed photo hanging up in the kitchen would look fabulous. You may even want to end this whole experience by eating the end result! Grab some dip, or make your favorite vegetable soup, because sometimes art is only meant to be temporary.
References
http://www.giuseppe-arcimboldo.org/
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/arcimboldo_giuseppe.html
http://www.all-art.org/early_renaissance/arcimboldo01biography.html
Have a look at this blog where you can find some great ideas for kids crafts, and where Hodaya was kind enough to link to this project: kidsfuncraft.wordpress.com
ArtClubBlog 
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How fun, this would definately get the kids to eat their veggies! Thanks for linking up to Party Time at So Very Creative!
It would with young kids. I’d get awfully strange looks if I tried this tactic with my teenager!
This is wonderful. What a great idea. You can teach health, nutrition, and art literature all in one sitting. Great job!
Thanks Jen. It was a lot of fun to make and eat 🙂
I’m always trying to get my kids to eat veggies so this is a great idea. I secretly like forming things out of food too. Lol.
That’s great! Some of us just can’t stop playing with our food 🙂
Very cool- love your blog
Thanks so much Carrie!
Love this! We just posted our Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday link party and would love for you to share this!
http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/2012/04/kitchen-fun-and-crafty-friday-link_19.html
I’d love to participate. Thanks!
How fun! Maybe my kids would eat their vegetables if I let them play with them first! Thanks for sharing at Terrific Tuesdays.
Rachel
adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com
Oh my gosh, that’s SO fun!! What a neat idea, and something kids would love to help with. Would you pretty please consider sharing it here?
http://oneartmama.blogspot.com/2012/04/shine-on-fridays-24-and-giveaway.html
Cool! 🙂
This is amazing. Great work!
Thanks Jodi. It was fun to make!
Thanks Jodi. I enjoyed visiting your blog, but was unfortunately unable to leave a comment. Your cake looks gorgeous!
How fun!
I don’t know what to say! That is the most creative veggie tray I’ve ever seen!
Thank you Melanna. That actually wouldn’t be a bad idea to present veggies and dip this way. Imagine kids fighting over broccoli 🙂
Wow – what an amazing work of edible art!! I shared this with my Facebook readers here: https://www.facebook.com/LivingLifeIntentionally – thanks for linking up to TGIF & I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow =-)
Beth
Thanks so much for doing that Beth! See you tomorrow.
This is way too cool!! Love it 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing at Sharing Saturday.
Ok. this is so cool! I love it and the most creative ones I have ever seen. Their faced are so cool! Thanks for sharing your creative inspiration at Sunday’s Best Par.tay!
They are so much fun! I am following you on Pinterest.
Thanks! Will come by and visit 🙂
I’m the Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts and I wanted to let you know that we have featured your edible portrait! You can see it here:
http://funfamilycrafts.com/edible-portrait/
If you have other kid friendly crafts, we’d love it if you would submit them. Thanks for a wonderful project idea!
Thanks so much! Always happy to help inspire kids to make and create 🙂
How fun! My kids would love this. They have the plates that have faces on them that you can decorate, but this takes it to a whole new level! We may be making edible portraits for lunch. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Kristi.I’m sure your kids would have a lot of fun with this!
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