Arcimboldo, The Marvelous

Two-sided interlocking cardboard puzzle published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in 1978 features a pair of fantastic paintings by the 16th century Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Portraitist to the Hapsburg courts in Vienna and Prague from 1562 to 1587.  Arcimboldo has been called "the Marvelous" for his unique invention, the "composite head"--a head and shoulders figure made up of apt and witty combinations of recognizable objects (in these two cases flowers and vegetables) painted with meticulous realism.  Arcimboldo (Italian, also spelled Arcimboldi) (1526 or 1527 – 1593) was an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, and books.