ABSTRACT
Trompe-l’oeil paintings have a special and intriguing place in the oeuvre of Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627-1678). 2 These illusionistic works include a series of letter racks which he painted over much of his active life. 3 They are still lifes that realistically depict relatively flat objects in life-size and inserted behind leather straps. About half of the letter racks can be characterized as personal in nature. This subcategory is identified by objects that belonged to Van Hoogstraten himself or that allude to his person. In this contribution it shall be argued that these pictures could very well have been tributes with a tailored message to specific recipients.
