HOLLISH SCHOOL circa 1660: "Trompe l'oeil au rideau,... Lot 26

HOLLISH SCHOOL circa 1660: "Trompe l'oeil au rideau, à la montre de gousset, bouteille et aux lettres dans un encadrement de fenêtre" (Trompe l'oeil au rideau, à la montre de gousset, bouteille et aux lettres dans un encadrement de fenêtre). Canvas. 55x82. Traces of signature in the lower right-hand corner. Dated upper left on the letter 166. In the middle of the 17th century, trompe l'oeil became a genre in its own right in the Netherlands and Flanders, before spreading throughout Europe. It became a game between the painter and the spectator. The curtain to the right of the painting is not only an element of the décor reinforcing the trompe l'oeil effect. Like the compositions of Cornelis Norbertus Gysbrechts, it refers to the story of Zeuxis and Parrhasios reported by Pliny the Elder in the first century A.D. Zeuxis and Parrhasios, two of the most famous painters of Athens in the 4th century B.C., compete against each other in a contest. Zeuxis thinks he has won when a bird tries to peck at the grapes he has painted. To protect his work, he tries to cover it with a curtain and realizes that it was painted by Parrhasios. Zeuxis then understands that he has lost. He has managed to lure the birds, but his rival has deceived him too. Expert: René MILLET