The quest for imitative realism has been with us since antiquity.
Pliny the Elder told the story of two rival painters, Zeuxis and Parrhasius, who were competing to see who could produce the most realistic painting. The story goes that Zeuxis had painted a picture of grapes so realistically, that birds were deceived enough to peck at the fruit. After Parrhasius finished his painting, he invited Zeuxis to his studio. Zeuxis tried to lift the curtain from the panel to see the painting underneath. To his surprise, the panel was a painting of a curtain. Zeuxis conceded that Parrhasius was a better painter, whereas he had deceived only birds, Parrhasius had fooled a human being.
We use the french term Trompe l?oeil, meaning literally to ?fool the eye?, to describe imitative paintings.