ABSTRACT
The Winter's Tale is most often cited for its evocation of "that rare Italian master Giulio Romano", presented as a sculptor but best known as a painter and an architect. Interestingly enough, it may be because of Romano's taste for trompe l'oeil effects that Shakespeare ascribes Hermione's statue to him, blurring the lines between different levels of reality. The architectural metaphor initiated by Camillo will actually be extended throughout the play, albeit in an unobtrusive way. Time plays a very ambivalent role in the architectural process since it can be both a source of destruction and a guarantee of success. Alberti for instance insists a lot on the fact that it can be a protection against error and that the architect must take time to ripen his project. He often uses the words "patience" and "prudence", stating, as we have seen above, that "in many Cases Time will discover a great many Things to you".
