trompe l'oeil artist's panel

a panel of carved oak

A trompe-l'oeil rendition of a Gothic carved oak panel. This type of illusionistic painting can be a useful tool in the trompe-l'oeil artists repertoire for mural painting, being used for creating architectural elements where they might be needed to create structure, focal point and interest, but where circumstances or cost disallow the real materials. The illusions created by trompe-l'oeil artists form a large part of historic decoration and often go unnoticed unless pointed out as such, a testament to the skills of the decorative artists of many previous generations.