A groundbreaking study of how Picasso, Braque, and Gris engaged with the visual tradition of illusion and deception in their influential Cubist works. The timeless tradition of visual illusionism, known as trompe l'oeil ("to deceive the eye"), uses visual tricks that confuse the viewer's perception of reality and imagination, truth and illusion. This radically new approach to Cubism shows how Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris both parody and honor the classical themes and motifs of trompe l'oeil with wit and inventiveness. More than one hundred illustrated works compare Cubist paintings, drawings, and collages with relevant compositions by Old Masters. The essays are based on new research and explore the connections between the Cubists and the trompe l'oeil specialists of previous centuries and their games of creative superiority. The informed and engaging texts track the changing status of trompe l'oeil over the centuries, reveal Braque's training in artisanal trompe l'oeil techniques as an integral part of his Cubist practice, examine the materials used in Gris's collages, and discuss the previously unstudied trompe l'oeil iconography in Cubist still lifes—including newspapers, verbal games, images-within-images, imitation wood textures, and art tools.