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Article: The extraordinary nature of illusion.(Cover story)
- Article from:
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Article date:
- November 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
"When our first encounter with some object surprises us and we find it novel or very different from what we formerly knew or from what we supposed it ought to be, this causes us to wonder and be astonished at it," wrote 17th-century philosopher Rene Descartes in his Passions of the Soul. Indeed, astonishment awaits anyone who views for the first time the work of Giuseppe Arcimboldi, Milanese painter extraordinaire, portraitist of emperors, and master of illusion (1).
Arcimboldi grew up in a distinguished family. He associated with philosophers and other scholars and knew the son of Bernardino Luini, a student of Leonardo, who had ...