Art History, Theory of Art, Deception, Iconography, History of Ideas
Abstract
The paper argues that the theme of “deception” in Western Art History cannot be thought of as simply a technical trick, such as the use of trompe-l’oeil or the “fly test” or the “curtains test”. Nor it cannot be reduced to the use of mirrors as symbol of deception (as argued by Ripa); or to the ideological conception that assumes different degrees of knowledge available to those who have been “induced”. Rather, “deception” should be thought as an exercise of virtue and declaration of belonging, as testified by the race between Zeusi and Parrasio. As argued by several authors such as Pigler, Chastel, and Arasse, the presence in many paintings of the fly or the curtain cannot be explained within the iconographic context. It is instead an attempt to make a general statement which exists outside the painting and conveys fine identity of the work’s author.
