The article discusses the nature of the theories on anamorphosis presented from 1950s to 1980s amidst the structuralist paradigms in France. It problematizes the idea that anamorphosis is and was an anti-Cartesian gesture. This it does by comparing the theories of Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Jacques Lacan, Roland Barthes, and Jean-François Lyotard to discussions considering the use of perspective and anamorphosis in Académie française in the 17th century.