Back in 2002, on a visit to my daughter, who was living in Washington, D.C., at the time, I happened to go to the National Gallery to see an exhibit in an art technique called trompe l’oeil. That’s French for “deceive the eye.”
It’s a painting technique that creates an illusion of three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface. The art of trompe l’oeil has been used for centuries ― even dating back to ancient Rome and Greece ― to create realistic and often misleading images that trick the viewer’s perception. This is an example unearthed in the archaeological dig at Pompeii, entombed in volcanic ash in 79 AD.
There are several types of trompe l’oeil. One is perspective, or creating the illusion of depth and distance by using lines and shapes that converge in the distance.
A second is called anamorphosis. This involves creating an image that can only be seen from a specific angle or perspective. A third is di sotto in sù, an Italian term for creating a ceiling painting that appears to be a continuation of the surrounding architecture.
Here are some typical examples of these variations on the technique …
Over the centuries, the quality of tromp l’oeil has improved dramatically. This image looks like a photograph. It’s not. It’s painted.
If you have to look at it several times, and you still aren’t sure whether it’s a photograph or a painting, it’s probably modern trompe l’oeil.
Akiane Kramarik
One of the truly miraculous contemporary practitioners of trompe l’oeil is Akaine Kramarik. Her story is incredible, but too long to go into here. Briefly, she started painting in oils at the age of five. Completely untrained, she became famous at the age of eight for this painting that she was inspired to create ― her vision of Jesus from a dream.
Without going into the details, this original painting was stolen and ended up in a private collection in Australia. So, Akiane painted another, around the age of twelve. By that time, her skill had improved dramatically.
“Heaven Is For Real”
As you might expect, Akiane gained much widespread notoriety, even being interviewed in a number of different videos, many of which are accessible now on YouTube. One of these Internet interviews came to the attention of a father and son in western Nebraska.
In 2004, five-year-old Colton Burpo was stricken with appendicitis. His appendix ruptured, and his father, Todd, rushed him to the nearest large hospital (in Denver, more than a hundred miles away). Colton was comatose for several days, but surgeons saved him. He had a long recovery, during which time he recounted his near-death, out-of-body experience to his father, who was also the pastor of their church in Nebraska.
Colton recounted that he’d gone to Heaven, where he met his grandfather and a sister, both of whom had died before he was born. His parents had never told him about that sister, who had been stillborn a few years before Colton arrived. He also told his father that he’d met Jesus and even sat on his lap.
Now, notwithstanding the fact that Todd was the spiritual leader of a non-denominational congregation, he found Colton’s story about meeting Jesus incredible. So he began questioning Colton over time about his experiences “in heaven.” And Colton accommodated, relaying several experiences. Todd Burpo even wrote a book about Colton’s near-death experience: Heaven Is for Real. It was made into a movie in 2014.
But when it came to Jesus, Todd felt compelled to test Colton about his experience. He showed Colton scores of images of Jesus, from Bibles, museum paintings, and Internet images. In each case, Colton demurred: “No, that’s not who I saw.” Todd thought no more about it for some time.
A couple of years later, Todd was sitting in front of his laptop computer, watching a video interview with Akiane Kramarik. During the interview, the painting of Jesus that she had been inspired to create appeared on the screen. Todd called Colton over to look at it.
“Yep. That’s him … that’s who I saw.” Colton responded. And this is the second version of the image of Jesus that Akiane painted . . . the one that Colton saw.
I pass this on, so when your time comes, you’ll know who to look for . . .
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