Trompe l’oeil of a Framed Necessary-Board 1662/1663
Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627–1678)
National Trust, Kingston Lacy
Trompe l'oeil is a French term which means to 'deceive the eye' and is a device used in paintings to create the illusion of space and to produce a heightened sense of realism. Although illusionism dates to ancient times, trompe l'oeil reached its height in the seventeenth century, although many earlier Renaissance artists experimented with perspective. Dutch Golden Age artists such as Samuel van Hoogstraten and Willem van Aelst especially excelled at such illusionistic paintings, while later Cubists including Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque found new ways to play visual tricks in their works.
