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Icons 1423866153 language trompe loeil Trompe l'Oeil

What can you create that tricks the eye? How can you create three dimensions on a two dimensional surface? How can you paint materials? What can expand an interior room to imagine an outside view? Why would you want to do this? Trompe L'Oeil, is the art of deceiving or ‘tricking’ the eye. People love to create optical illusions that delight the eye in seeing patterns and objects. This trickery extends in a more advanced stage to sharing views out into the imagined world. Written history reveals that people painted 'trick paintings’ for over two thousand years. How much fun to imagine a way to visualize what cannot really been seen? Trompe L'Oeil paintings that exist today are found in the excavated Italian cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. These paintings date back to the Greek and Roman empires; some are as old as 400 B.C. Scholars have studied these examples and have found that there are fours stages of early Trompe L'Oeil paintings. Early paintings divided the wall vertically (see** activity 1 frame a wall*). A second stage painted windows in the picture frieze zone (see **activity 2 frame a window*). The third stage added urban views of city and hillside landscapes. Try your hand at painting a trompe l'oeil scene within a scene. The fourth period, elongated the images.

“Deceive the eyes!”

Activity 1 – Frame a wall

Activity 2 – Frame a window

Activity 3 – Frame a Deep View

Activity 4 – Elongate a view!

Activity 5 – Discover Stages of Trompe L'Oeil

When archaeologists excavated the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, they discovered many things about the people and the city that existed before the volcano exploded and covered the town with lava. They were able to dig under the lava to discover the remnants of the homes. Inside of the homes they found fragments of walls that had been painted with frescoes. Scholars have studied these examples and have found that there are fours stages of early Trompe L'Oeil paintings. Early paintings divided the wall vertically (see** activity 1 frame a wall*). A second stage painted windows in the picture frieze zone (see **activity 2 frame a window*). The third stage added urban views of city and hillside landscapes. Try your hand at painting a trompe l'oeil scene within a scene. The fourth period, elongated the images. After you complete activities 1-4, make a frescoe chart with examples from each of the four periods.

Review

  • What does trompe l'oeil mean?
  • What are the four stages found in Pompeian tromp l'oeil?
  • Trompe l'oeil can include 'faux' painting of materials.
  • Where are trompe l'oeil paintings used today?
  • Who is a current trompe l'oeil painter?
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