Shepard’s Mona Lisa Illusion

Illusion below is something better known as Roger Shepard’s “Turning the Tables” illusion. Basically it’s the same thing we featured multiple times, using different motif. Look at the two Mona Lisa’s below. If I told you they had an equal surface area on their tops, you’d probably take it for granted. But what if I told you that they also were identical in both length and width?! If you don’t believe me, try and measure them for yourself. Below image is given so you can print it out, make a cutout of both paintings, and reposition them one over another… Do they fit nicely?

16 Replies to “Shepard’s Mona Lisa Illusion”

  1. Wrong. I cut them out, and they do not fit on top of each other. They are NOT equal in length and width. Incorrect on this one.

  2. I really think you should do something about printers-people who don’t have printers can’t print something important or whatever out. I wish they would design a computer with a built in printer!
    Anyways-Cool illusion-but it was too easy.

    1. eric is correct. there must have been a skewing of the original image in posting it on this site. the left one got elongated and the right one is fatter. (or they both became elongated on the virtical sizing)

  3. Actually, what surprises me is neither the length nor the area (I ever know this illusion), but the parallelism. Don’t you have the feeling that the paintings are trapezoidal ?!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *