July 11th was the birthday of a prominent Italian Mannerist painter of the 16th century, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who is best known as the artist who included fruits, nuts, fish and vegetables into his paintings. His images are best seen up close where you can discern all of the details and the objects assembled. Many critics of his time thought that he was a bit peculiar but later scholarship has pointed out that this collages were a common feature of his time, the Renaissance, which cherished riddles and playfulness. His painting philosophy was to create grotesque and surreal paintings to show how illogical and wild human nature really is.  Last year in June, I traveled to Brescia and visited the exhibition, “Food in Art” which showcased many artistic endeavors from painting to photos to sculptures that belong to world artists of the caliber of Warhol (Campbell’s Soup Cans), De Chirico (Composizione di frutta con testa classica) and Guttuso (Vucciria di Palermo) among others.