Atlantes and Deities (detail)Giovanni Lanfranco

This illusionistic corner from the Council of the Gods (1624–25) employs trompe-l’œil (a visual illusion) to depict three Atlantes straining under a fictive entablature. Their muscular tension contrasts with the serene gestures of mythological figures below, illustrating divine order upheld by primal force within Lanfranco’s Baroque cosmos.