Andrea Pozzo (1642–1709)Fresco, 1703, Jesuit Church, Vienna
DECEPTION AS ART
Trompe l’oeil is the attempt to deceive the viewer’s eye into believing that a representation is actually the thing itself. This ambition for perfect imitation goes back to Greek art. Aristotle, in The Poetics, writes, “The instinct of imitation is implanted in man from childhood, one difference between him and other animals being that he is the most imitative of living creatures, and through imitation learns his earliest lessons; and no less universal is the pleasure felt in things imitated.” In his Naturalis Historia, Pliny the Elder tells the tale of a contest between two Greek painters, Zeuxis and Parrhasius. Zeuxis painted a bunch of grapes with such verisimilitude that birds swooped down in an attempt to pluck them. He then asked Parrhasius to pull aside the curtain covering his own painting only to discover that the curtain was, in fact, a painted image. Parrhasius was declared the winner. “I have deceived the birds,” said Zeuxis, “but Parrhasius has deceived Zeuxis.”
Since the mastery of representational techniques achieved in the Renaissance, trompe l’oeil has made regular appearances. In general its use divides into three areas:
• Architectural
Mural and ceiling paintings attempt to convince the viewer that nonexistent spaces and architectural adornments are present.
• Easel painting
Creation of the illusion that elements are projecting out in front of the picture plane
• Diversion
An element used as an amusing or diverting addition to another work of art. A highly realistic fly, for instance, might be painted on top of a picture or even on the frame.
See also: Representation on page 154
Andrea Pozzo (1642–1709)
Fresco, 1703, Jesuit Church, Vienna
The creation of illusionistic ceiling paintings began with Mantegna and Melozzo da Forli in the fifteenth century. By the mid-sixteenth century, artists had discovered how to integrate such illusions into the perspective of architecture. The spectacular theatricality of such effects was well suited to the ambitions of the Counter-Reformation and its attempt to attract congregations with visual splendor. Here a faux dome is created in the ceiling. Such an illusion only works perfectly from a specific viewpoint.
William Michael Harnett (1848–1892)
The Old Violin, 1886, Oil on canvas, 38 × 23 5/8 in (96.5 × 60 cm)
Harnett specialized in still life paintings in which objects appear to be projected into real space in front of the canvas. He perfected an approach that first appeared in seventeenth-century Dutch painting.
