How Dutch Golden Age Painters Tricked the Eye

7 top "trompe l'oeil" paintings

By Google Arts & Culture

Flower Still Life (1614) by Ambrosius Bosschaert the ElderThe J. Paul Getty Museum

During the famous Golden Age of Dutch art, artists of the Netherlands excelled at creating illusionistic paintings, typically referred to as trompe l'oeil or "trick/fool the eye". Take a closer look at these "Top 7 Trompe l'oeil" masterpieces. Although their makers' are no longer household names, these seven works represent some of the best examples of visual trickery from seventeenth-century Holland.

1. Flower Still Life, 1614 by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (collection: The J. Paul Getty Museum)

"Trompe-l`Oeil" Still Life (1666/1678) by Samuel van HoogstratenStaatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe

2. Trompe-l`oeil Still-Life,1666 - 1678 by Samuel van Hoogstraten (collection: Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe)

Trompe l'oeil. Board Partition with Letter Rack and Music Book (1668) by Cornelius Norbertus GijsbrechtsSMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

3. Trompe l'oeil Still Life of Board Partition with Letter Rack and Music Book, 1668, by Cornelius Norbertus Gijsbrechts (coll

Vanitas - Still Life with Books and Manuscripts and a Skull (1663) by Edwaert CollierThe National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

4. Vanitas - Still Life with Books and Manuscripts and a Skull, 1663 by Edwaert Collier [Collyer] (collection: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo)

Letter rack (c.1698) by Edward COLLIERArt Gallery of South Australia

5. Still Life, circa 1696 by Edwaert Colyer (collection: Indianapolis Museum of Art)

Vanitas Flower Still Life (circa 1656 - 1657) by Willem van AelstNorth Carolina Museum of Art

6. Vanitas Flower Still Life, circa 1656-1657 by Willem van Aelst (collection: North Carolina Museum of Art)

Treasurers' papers and documents (1656) by Cornelis BrizéRoyal Palace Amsterdam

7. Treasurers' papers and documents,1656 by Cornelis Brizé (collection: Royal Palace Amsterdam)

Learn more about the Dutch Golden Age.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

Interested in Visual arts?

Get updates with your personalized Culture Weekly

You are all set!

Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.

Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites