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Enduring Idea of the Unit: Communicating through the use of humor is common to the human experience.

Art Idea of the Unit: Humor in art can express many levels of meaning and purpose.

Key Questions

· How does humor manifest itself in art?
· What is a visual pun?
· How are visual puns and allegories used to express
multiple meanings?
· How and why does humor in works of art connect people
across time, place, and culture?

Unit Objectives

· The student will actively demonstrate through oral and
written expression an understanding of how The Librarian
is a visual pun (aesthetics).
· The student will interpret the use of allegory in art as
evidence of a specific historical culture and time (art
history and criticism).
· The student will demonstrate an understanding of the
continuing historical and personal significance of the art
by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (art history).
· The student will communicate visually a synthesis of
critical analysis, historical perspective, and personal
reflection by using humor through a visual pun, an
allegory or other personal expression in his/her own
collaged sculpture (art criticism and art production).

Overview of Lessons

Lesson 1
This lesson is an introduction to the composite heads by Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Students will examine the visual qualities of The Librarian. They will continue to explore it as a humorous visual pun and will record historical and cultural ideas and questions that surface in relation to this work of art. Students will create their own visual puns.

Lesson 2
The focus of this lesson is to analyze the painting Vertumnus by Giuseppe Arcimboldo within a cultural and historical context. Students will imagine themselves as this composite head and make personal analogies. Students will explore how this work of art acted as an allegory of the history and science of the 16th century.

Lesson 3
In the final lesson, students make personal application of their understanding of visual puns and allegory by creating a three dimensional, paper sculpture collage, depicting an occupation.

Resources and Materials

Digital Images
The Librarian, by Giuseppe Arcimboldo. 1566. Oil on canvas, 97 x 71 cm. Photo credit: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY
www.artres.com. Slott, Skokloster, Sweden.
LINK to The Librarian.

Vertumnus (Emperor Rudolf II), by Giuseppe Arcimboldo. 1590. Oil on wood. 70.5 x 57.5 cm. Photo credit: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY www.artres.com. Slott, Skokloster, Sweden
LINK to Vertumnus.

Books and Publications
The Arcimboldo Effect: Transformations of the face from the 16th to the 20th Century, edited through Gruppo Edioriale Fabbri S.A. Abbeville Press: New York, 1987.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo by Werner Kriegeskorte. Benedikt Taschen: Germany, 1993.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo: Hello Fruit Face! By Claudia Strand. Prestel Verlag, Munich, 1999.

Arcimboldo the Marvelous by Andre Pieyre De Mandiargues. Harry N. Abrams, Inc.: New York, 1977.

The North Texas Institute for Educators on the Visual Arts and this newsletter are supported by grants from the Edward and Betty Marcus Foundation; the Greater Denton Arts Council and the Arts Guild of Denton; the Texas Commission on the Arts; and Individual Donors. The Institute collaborates with school districts, museums, and art organizations within the state of Texas. The NTIEVA Newsletter is published by the North Texas

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