Upside-down painting

Most paintings are intended to be hung in a precise orientation, defining an upper part and a lower part.

Some paintings are displayed upside down, sometimes by mistake since the image does not represent an easily recognizable oriented subject and lacks a signature or by a deliberate decision of the exhibitor.

Some works display rotational symmetry or are ambiguous figures that allow both orientations to be meaningful.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo painted several works that are still lifes in one orientation and related portraits in the other.

Green lines representing grass. A grey object on the top.
Long Grass With Butterflies , 1890
A full-body portrait of the king in an elaborate frame is displayed next to an antique chair.
The portrait of Philip V
Arcimboldo's The Cook reversed ( 🔝 ) and the right way up (🔝). See also The Fruit Basket and The Gardener .