trompe l'oeil

(adjective)

A genre of still-life painting that exploits human vision to create the illusion that the subject of the painting is real.

Related Terms

Examples of trompe l'oeil in the following topics:

  • Michelangelo

    • He was originally commissioned to paint tromp-l'oeil coffers after the original ceiling developed a crack.

  • Painting in the Early Roman Empire

    • These trompe l'oeil images are intended to trick the eye into believing that the walls of a building have dissolved into the depicted three-dimensional space.