For 20 years, the fresco on Place de la Motte in Limoges has been deceiving passers-by
Initiated by Cobaty Limoges at the end of the last century, the trompe-l'oeil fresco on Place de la Motte is a summary of the city's history.
For the uninitiated eye of a passing tourist, there is no doubt that the Cobaty fresco is an effective trap. Walking along the covered market on Place de la Motte, without knowing the deception, it is difficult not to believe that there are two buildings opposite, separated by a narrow alleyway that seems to be hidden by a long stage curtain. And this is perhaps where the illusion is revealed: it is a trompe-l'oeil, and the curtain that extends has many things to say.
Maurice Bordes, president of Cobaty Limoges at the time the fresco was created, is responsible for the explanation. "The idea was first to create a perspective on a flat wall. So there is this impression of an alley between two buildings, an alley in which entertainers have set up shop and are rehearsing their numbers." And that is how a stage curtain is erected, showing striking images of the city, both historical and cultural.
There, the castle of the Viscounts of Limoges on its motte, here a Limousin cow, elsewhere the Moulin du Got, and so many other details contemplated by a child of the ball (orange), yellow and purple cap, the colors of the CSP at the time, screwed on his head. On each side, two buildings rise up perfectly in trompe-l'oeil and also allow references to the city to appear at their windows, such as Renoir in his works or the flames of the terrible fire of 1864.
Created to make Cobaty known to the general public, this fresco has managed the feat of pleasing almost unanimously, an exercise that is oh so difficult when you modify public space, as Maurice Bordes reminds us. But what is the former president's favorite element in this fresco? "What I like is the perspective created. What I prefer is perhaps in fact what we don't see, what we imagine behind the curtain."