Before photography, the only opportunity to see your face, painters took advantage of the Venus Effect to break optical rules and show faces that couldn’t have been seen in the mirror.
Janssens
After 1600, series of four paintings fell from favour, and artists, particularly the Brueghel family, combined all into single images.
Two illusions used extensively by painters for centuries before they were recognised. Glare used to accentuate brightness, and Venus for reflection in a mirror.
Not as easy as it may seem, there are several outstanding paintings about the sense of sight – and an ancient game which is played on every continent.
Trying to elicit a specific taste seem over-ambitious, but why can’t great paintings at least make us feel peckish?
The Eclectic Light Company 