The sounds of time

Jean-François de le Motte (c. 1635 – c. 1685) is known for his trompe-l’œil paintings – pictures that ‘deceive the eye’ by using perspective, modelling and other means to create an illusion of three-dimensional reality. Bodo Vischer investigates one of these paintings, exploring its contents and the wide-ranging network of allusions they generate. Seen together, the objects depicted run the gamut of human experience, from hearty conviviality and the joys of love to tortured loneliness and the pain of love.