Cotán, Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber, 1602Art frequently exploits the conceptual dissonance between what is present and what is absent. The degree of similarity between the painted surface and what it depicts is proportional to the degree of dissonance.
The excitatory potential of vivid representations (trompe l’oeil, etc.) lies not in the fact we see something that could really be there, but that we see something that is there and not there at the same time.
