Bath Towel Illusion

It took me 3 years having this painting on my disk before realizing the illusion it holds. Until today, I considered this work by Sandro Del Prete nothing more than a boring NSFW piece of art.

As you can see, the woman is hanging a bath towel on a clothesline, but is unaware of the sensual illusion to which we have fallen victim. No, the woman isn’t really nude. You’ll probably want to check this again!

The illusion it took couple of years for me to notice, is caused by the illustration printed on the bath towel. The towel depicts motive of five dolphins playing in the algae (sea grass), which “accidentally” resembles something else. If you don’t believe me, check out the window reflection in background – it clearly shows that the woman is decent and wearing her clothes as she should.

There is even better version of this illusion available, one that we posted in the very beginning of this site! Be sure to check the original Dolphins Illusion once you’re finished reading this.

27 Replies to “Bath Towel Illusion”

  1. yeaa first comment um im a girl so to me this is kinda discustin but a really nice peace of art.. btw 3 yrs i no its hard to find but thats OTT

  2. I can SEE the dolphins and the sea grass but can’t just see the design on the towel without seeing the lady outline.

  3. While I agree this is a good post. However, I disagree with your statement ‘the woman is decent and wearing her clothes as she should.’ Underneath clothes everyone is nude. In fact, most people are nude 2-3 times per day. I take my shower in the morning and at night I change into sleeping clothes. This does not take into account the many-I assume-people who sleep in the altogether.

  4. Interesting. Of course, the window reflection can’t actually be the woman hanging the towel — the angles are all wrong. Which means that in reality there are two women hanging towels, one of whom is dressed, and the other who may or may not be nude.

    Or maybe I’m over-thinking this?

    1. Frank, trust me you’re not over-thinking it. I’m glad someone here has some sense of perspective. Duuuuuhhhhh!!!! 8)

      I found all the dolphins, but the illusion, as a whole, is very distracting. If she were truly naked, she could have a dolphin standing next to her with it’s flipper around her shoulder and I wouldn’t see it. Oh yeah I’m a man/dog!!

      Sorry it’s in my genes

      P.S. It’s only a drawing, so there’s no real reflection

  5. Too bad the reflection is totally off (angle of mirror). Besides that, it’s a nice illusion to have hanging on your wall.

  6. I agree with Frank Lee Meidere, there seems to be more than one woman. It took me some time to catch on, but there it is, separate front view and separate rear view. I like it a lot thanx………..

  7. I’m sorry to be a prude, but Ihave your site on my igoogle homepage, and in today’s work environment, should I be showing this to a room full of people when my browser opens?

    I don’t want to censor, but… anyway to have these types require a mouse click?

    Generally great site, I enjoy seeing the illusions daily.

  8. Frank, trust me you’re not over-thinking it. I’m glad someone here has some sense of perspective. Duuuuuhhhhh!!!! 8)
    I found all the dolphins, but the illusion, as a whole, is very distracting. If she were truly naked, she could have a dolphin standing next to her with it’s flipper around her shoulder and I wouldn’t see it. Oh yeah I’m a man/dog!!
    Sorry it’s in my genes

    P.S. It’s only a drawing, so there’s no real reflection

  9. took me a bit… a nice challenge! reminds me of an older illusion — about corrupted minds only being able to see the nude people instead of dolphins (?)

  10. I cannot believe how caught up you people are with the nudity. Get a grip! The naked form is beautiful. Especially in art. this was not done in poor taste, its art people. Do you change with your eyes closed? Whats wrong with you! Live a little

  11. Hmm.. I thought that maybe when she was hanging it out it had draped the towel slightly over herself, leaving a slight impression with light and shadow to make it look like an NSFW design on the towel…

    But yeah, it’s just dolphins

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