Photo by David Friend Productions, San Diego, California
18th CENTURY OPTICAL ILLUSION PICTURE
16-024. Italian, 2nd half 18th century, unsigned. The 8 5/8" x 11" paper wrapped picture frame contains a hand colored portrait of a young man on the flat back behind the glass and 22 approximately 3/8" deep strips mounted from top to bottom with portions of other pictures on each side. Thus, if one looks at the picture from the right side, a hand colored portrait of the young man's father can be seen, and from the left side, a hand colored portrait of his mother can be seen. This attractive optical illusion picture is in very good overall condition, with its original glass and very little wear to the decorative paper covering. See pages 88-89 in Mara Miniati's "Museo De Storia Dell Scienza - Catalogo" for a color photo and description of a similar picture in the Florence Museum collection, which is the only other example we have been able to find.
