ABSTRACT
This essay explores Samuel van Hoogstraten’s reasons for designing his intriguing perspective box in the National Gallery in London [Fig. 45]. 1 Susan Koslow, one of the scholars who dealt in depth with the few extant boxes, presumed that there was a romantic love story behind the London work. More recently, Celeste Brusati did not deny that there was an erotic element to the depictions on the outside of the box, but she was inclined to regard the work as an artful self-portrait and a proud self-reflexive demonstration of the artist’s accomplishments in the art of perspective. 2 In what follows, I shall put forward another, more ‘domestic’ suggestion with regard to what may have moved Samuel van Hoogstraten in creating his perspective box.
