Trompe L’œil- The Foundation of 3D Street Art?

by Zoe Dukoff-Gordon

Escaping Criticism by Pere Borrell del Caso, 1874
(source: Wikicommons)

The ‘Trompe l’œil’ ('trick of the eye') is made to look three dimensional to ‘fool’ the eye into thinking the piece is coming out of the page. It first began in the Ancient world, for example in Pompeii; the Greeks or Romans would use the style as a window or door way with intent to suggest a larger room. Then the style became popular in Italy where they would paint illusionistic ceilings to give the impression of a greater space to the person below.

Well-known examples are the 'Camera degli Sposi' in Mantua and Antonio da Coreggio's ‘Assumption of the Virgin’ in the Duomo of Parma. The style carried on to the seventeenth century, when a new architectural illusion was used by painters to "open up" the space of a wall or ceiling is known as 'quadratura'. This is where the ‘trompe l’œil’ got its name and appeared in many places of worship and great halls.

It can also be found on painted tables of other pieces of furniture so, for example, it may look like a game of cards is being played. A particularly impressive example can be seen at Chatsworth in Derbyshire, where one of the internal doors appears to have a violin and bow suspended from it.

Now in the present day, American street artists have taken the idea of ‘fool the eye’ and turned it into a 3D street painting, particularly Joe Hill (see below) who has painted in big cities such as London, New York and Hong Kong.

(source: www.joehill-art.com)