Craftmanship
The Visual Trickery of Trompe l’oeil
Nina Chinn is drawn deep into the world of trompe l’oeil, admiring the deceptions of unerringly realistic painting in a style started by the Ancient Greeks that reached an apotheosis during the Renaissance in such magnificent places as the Palazzo Te in Mantua.
In 1964, the psychoanalyst and theorist Jacque Lacan observed that while animals are attracted to superficial appearances, humans are enticed by the idea of things that are hidden.
As such, the visual trickery of the trompe l’oeil technique has engaged and entranced its viewers for centuries, leaving us with inspiring gasps of wonder, amusement and delight. This style was first employed by the ancient Greeks. They developed a technique of adding pigment to wet plaster, producing color, and hence, a more realistic image. This was further enhanced by painting architectural ornaments such as columns or porticoes into the fresco, creating optical illusions of three-dimensional image.
By the time of the Renaissance, trompe l’oeil had moved to a grandiose scale. Italian churches and cathedrals were the first to be dominated with this newfound technique. Biblical narratives and religious imagery adorned the walls and ceilings – the most famed being the Sistine Chapel.
By the Middle Renaissance, trompe l’oeil murals became the decoration of choice by patrons of the grand Italian palazzos and villas. Ceilings were transformed into domes of open skies, scattered with exotic birds and foliage, and windowless rooms became vast spaces with sublime imaginary vistas. Faux finishes created illusions of wood paneling and stone, with visuals of grand arches in hallways lined with statues placed in marble porticoes.
The Fall of the Giants, at Palazzo Te in Mantua Italy, catapults the viewer into the scene through the masterful use of trompe l’oeil.
By concealing the seams between the vertical and horizontal levels of the room, its architecture is dissolved into an ethereal heaven filled with giants and gods. The viewer is placed in the center of this energetic and powerful event, close enough for an intimate look yet always held at arm’s length from these celestial bodies. With advancing skills of perspective, coloring and shading technique, the trompe l’oeil art form advanced and evolved with the artist’s pursuit of mastery. Pushing the boundaries of the real and the imaginary, the visual stimuli of trompe l’oeil continue to inspire wonder and reverence in viewers today.
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