Rebecca Arrington

Look again -- it's trompe l'oeil

Visitors to the Lawn won't be faced with a construction eyesore when viewing the Rotunda this summer. From a distance, they may even mistake the plywood fence surrounding the southwest wing of the Rotunda for the real thing, thanks to the illusion created by two architecture student interns.

Undergraduate Erin Hannegan (left) and graduate architectural history student Katherine Dyll are painting the fence to appear as the southwest wing of the building -- fan windows, keystones and all --a technique known as trompe l'oeil, or "tricks" the eye. The students, under the supervision of Curator and Architect of the Academical Village J. Murray Howard, are also assisting in renovation, maintenance and restoration work to several of U.Va.'s historic pavilions.

Three maintenance projects on the Lawn will alter foot traffic near the Rotunda through Oct. 6. This summer, pedestrians will have to use the East tunnel entrance to get to the Rotunda. Howard said the fence around the southwest wing of the Rotunda will be removed in September.