Trompe l'Oeil Still Life

About the Artwork

Understood in the 1700s as a delightful, intellectual game, trompe l’oeil paintings and drawings such as this one were devised to “trick the eye” as the French term suggests. Toeing the line between realism and deception, the details of these compositions expose them as elaborate illusions. Here, Jacobus Cornelis Meyer’s image invites the viewer to uncover the trick. While the print depicted at center alludes to a well-known Dutch comedy revolving around hidden identity, the open curtain and fictional tears and creases in the papers encourage the viewer to physically reach out and break the illusion.

Inscriptions

signed, lower right, in gray watercolor: Jacobus Cornelis Meyer / van Spanbrock

Provenance

?–1955: Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Brown, Cleveland, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH July 8, 1955–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Imagination in the Age of Reason. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 28, 2024-March 2, 2025).

Quick Overview

Artist: Jacobus Cornelis Meyer (Dutch, active 1700s)
Date: c. 1754
Medium: pen and ink, point of brush and black ink wash, watercolor and gouache
Dimensions: Sheet: 37.3 x 27.4 cm (14 11/16 x 10 13/16 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Brown
Accession no.: 1955.376

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.