Arcimboldo, 16th-Century Surrealist, in Washington

It's easy to get some artists mixed up, or at least understandable that you might do so. Was that Madonna painting by Raphael or Fra Angelico? And the picture with all those shadows"“ was that by Rembrandt or Caravaggio? But no one ever confuses the 16th-Century painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo with anyone else.

Arcimboldo, clever juggler of fruits, vegetables, fish and fowl, can be considered a Mannerist, of the generation following the peak of the Italian Renaissance. But instead of painting soulful portraits and skewed versions of traditional religious scenes, he created some of the most bizarre concoctions ever dreamed up by an artist. It's not surprising that, when he was rediscovered in the 20th Century, it was the Surrealists who found him.

His current show at the National Gallery in Washington celebrates this most singular artist with an extraordinary assembly of work gathered from a wide range of museums and collections. In addition to 17 original paintings, the exhibit includes drawings by such influences as Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer, as well as supporting texts, armor, sculpture and ceramics. The very satisfying result is a rare comprehensive look at Arcimboldo and a full sense of the time and place that supported his particular vision.

Maximilian's curiosity

As court painter to the Hapsburg Emperor Maximilian II, Arcimboldo worked in an enlightened environment that festered with curiosity about discoveries in the natural world, a rapidly expanding feature of 16th-Century Europe. Maximilian founded gardens and zoos that provided Arcimboldo with first-hand specimens of the animals and plants that appear in his paintings.

As a court painter, his job was, of course, to honor and please the emperor, so many of the paintings work to that end. Two of the best-known series, The Four Seasons (1563) and The Four Elements (1566), are allegorical portraits containing symbols and messages pertaining to Maximilian's power and glory.

A creature called Winter

For example, Winter is a gnarled old tree creature, with a bent stump of a nose, tangles of ivy and bare branches for hair, and thick fungus lips. The cloak that wraps the creature's shoulders is woven of straw picked out with symbols of the Hapsburgs. He sports a "brooch" of a lemon and orange, exotic bounty from far-off Hapsburg domains.

The "Water" element is a bizarrely beautiful amalgam of sea creatures that seems to squiggle and writhe as you watch. A flounder slants across the creature's "face" to form a cheek, while another fish wriggles up beneath it to provide a gaping mouth. More than 60 identifiable species are woven into the composition, including octopus, eel and a crown of bright coral.

This is a seriously conceived exhibit with a vibrant "fun" side. There's something for everyone: history, science, weird pictures and good art.

The National Gallery has taken a further step to make this a very audience-friendly show by commissioning a colossal sculpture of Winter by the American artist Peter Haas. Perched near the entrance to the exhibit, it captures all the nuances: the twisted, decaying bark, the speckle of the lemon rind, and the close-woven texture of the straw mantle— all defying you to believe that it's made of fiberglass rather than natural materials.