Trompe l’œil Painting

Trompe l'oeil painting of columns, animals and a landscape
Columns and animals, as well as the landscape were painted by Joanne Marie Wolfe

 

Trompe-l'œil is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.

Trompe l'oeil painting of a door
A door leading nowhere

Although the phrase has its origin in the Baroque period, when it refers to perspectival illusionism, use of trompe-l'œil dates back much further. It was (and is) often employed in murals. Instances from Greek and Roman times are known, for instance in Pompeii. A typical trompe-l'œil mural might depict a window, door, or hallway, intended to suggest a larger room.

 

A version of an oft-told ancient Greek story concerns a contest between two renowned painters. Zeuxis (born around 464 BC) produced a still life painting so convincing, that birds flew down from the sky to peck at the painted grapes.

Trompe l'oeil painting on a tray
A tray containing illusions

Then Xeuxis was asked by his rival, Parrhasius, to pull back a pair of very tattered curtains in order to judge the painting behind them. Parrhasius won the contest, as his painting was of the curtains themselves.

 

Continue reading this Wikipedia-article here.

Logo of JMW-Interiors - nude Greek woman with a vase

JMW Interiors

Vienna, Austria

Joanne Marie Wolfe

Tel: +43 699 18 23 34 83