Why do you like Arcimboldo's portraits? Effect of perceptual style on aesthetic appreciation of ambiguous artworks

Visual aesthetic experience reflects the states of the mind and the brain when visual artworks are being viewed. In the present study, we investigated whether perceptual style affects the aesthetic appreciation of ambiguous artworks, such as those of Arcimboldo, which are characterized by part-whole ambiguity. Participants were classified as having a global or local perceptual style and were asked to aesthetically judge two different types of artworks: portraits by Arcimboldo and by Renaissance painters. We found that perceptual style affected both the aesthetic appreciation and the degree of perceived ambiguity in Arcimboldo's artworks. Our findings suggest that aesthetic judgment is a consequence of the interaction between individual personal perceptual style and the perceptual features of artworks.