Considerable interest has been recently devoted to analyzing picture perception and its differences from vis-à-vis perception. However, an exhaustive theory of picture perception requires explaining the difference between these two perceptual states and the one we are in when facing pictorial illusions like trompe l’oeils, which foster the impression of being in front of a real object available for interaction. One standard story is that these illusions prevent the viewer from perceiving the surface, which is instead possible with usual pictures, this causing the pictorial space to be perceived as real space. In this respect, since recent accounts of pictorial experience revolve around attention, the relation between trompe l’oeils and attention should also be accounted for. Nevertheless, nobody has ever offered such a comprehensive explanation. Here, we fill this gap in the literature by offering a theory of trompe l’oeils built on the role of attention. This also leads to explain some crucial features of trompe l’oeil experience never accounted for within the literature, such as the temporal transiency of the illusory effect and the relation between attention and action at its basis. This further clarifies the relation between picture perception, face-to-face perception and trompe l’oeil perception in attentional terms.