Images of Deception. The Art of Trompe-L'oeil

📓 Trompe-l'oeil is that intriguing art which, by means of special technical devices, tricks the spectator into the illusion that what he sees is not painted, but real. This peculiar and very particular form of art holds the appeal of a conjurer's sleight-of-hand, of a hall of mirrors in which the image proceeds into infinity. The author here looks at the history of trompe-l'oeil, illustrating and discussing some of the most striking examples in European and American art.