I'm sure it was in reference to that style of painting.  This is not the
only instance of his recognizing that style in this chapter.  There is
also the rather humorous reference to dust being painted on the backs of
animals:

"In another building they showed us a fresco representing some lions and
other beasts drawing chariots; and they seemed to project so far from
the wall that we took them to be sculptures. The artist had shrewdly
heightened the delusion by painting dust on the creatures' backs, as if
it had fallen there naturally and properly. Smart fellow—if it be smart
to deceive strangers."

It was just my idea that the thought that they "smelled the flowers"
represented a high compliment to the effectiveness of the technique.
Twain had mentioned previously how much he preferred Renaissance realism
to "the old masters" and trompe l'oeil originated in this realism.


On Mon, 2012-01-23 at 16:38 -0600, Larry Howe wrote:
> I suppose this could be a specific painting, but I've always read it =20
> as a little dig at trompe l'oeil.
>
> --LH