ESO Gallery of Curios Puzzle: Artist’s Lens and Artist’s Touch

The ESO Gallery of Curios Puzzle takes place inside the Cursed Castle wing of the Nowhere Vault, where players must identify three missing curios scattered throughout a collection of strange objects. Alongside the main challenge, there’s a hidden puzzle involving a destroyed painting, an Artist’s Lens and a secret reward called Artist’s Touch.

Completing both parts of the ESO Gallery of Curios Puzzle is important if you’re working towards the Nowhere Vault’s hidden objectives. While finding the three curios opens the way forward, Artist’s Touch is needed to activate the Rain Totems in Sinking Courtyard and continue the Cursed Castle secret chain. Here’s how to find the missing curios, locate the Artist’s Lens and complete the hidden objective.

How to Solve the ESO Gallery of Curios Puzzle

When you enter Gallery of Curios, Urli explains that the room tests your memory and observation skills. You’ll find three objects displayed on a central altar near the entrance, surrounded by a much larger collection of curios throughout the gallery.

Your objective is to find the three matching objects hidden elsewhere in the room.

To complete the puzzle:

1. Approach the central display and examine the three curios.
2. Pay attention to their appearance, including their shape and colour.
3. Interact with the display to begin the challenge and open access to the surrounding rooms.
4. Search the smaller galleries for objects matching those originally displayed.
5. Interact with each correct curio until all three have been recovered.
6. Once you’ve found all three, the normal Gallery of Curios objective is complete.

Players have encountered a chalice, a tablet-like object and a distinctive blue skull among the displayed curios.

The important detail is that two objects can share the same interaction name without being identical. For example, an ordinary skull and a blue skull may both be labelled as a skull, but only the correct version counts towards the objective.

Compare the appearance of the objects rather than selecting everything with a matching name.

What Happens If You Choose the Wrong Curio?

Selecting an incorrect object can summon an enemy that you’ll need to defeat. It doesn’t automatically fail the puzzle or force you to start again.

The gallery also contains additional enemies, including a gargoyle and a vengeful spirit, so be prepared for combat while searching the side rooms.

There’s no need to reset the entire room after choosing the wrong object. Continue searching until you’ve located the three required curios.

ESO Gallery of Curios Puzzle: Artist’s Lens Location

The Artist’s Lens is part of the hidden objective, not one of the three curios needed to complete the ordinary challenge.

To find it, head towards the smaller rooms on the eastern side of Gallery of Curios. Look for the northeastern room containing an unusual purple glow around a damaged painting.

Near the painting is an interactable clue called The Destroyed Painting.

Read the clue, then examine the rubble immediately beside it. The Artist’s Lens is hidden among the debris, close to the purple-lit area.

Interact with the rubble to collect the Lens.

If you’re searching the larger central gallery, you’re looking in the wrong place for this first part of the secret. The Destroyed Painting and Artist’s Lens are found together in one of the smaller rooms.

How to Use the Artist’s Lens and Get Artist’s Touch

Once you’ve collected the Artist’s Lens, you’ll need to activate its special interaction to uncover the hidden artwork.

The main location described by player walkthroughs is the large southern or southeastern gallery. Look for the staircase leading down towards the crypt and check near the top of the stairs for an interaction associated with the Artist’s Lens.

Some walkthroughs describe this as a telescope interaction, while others describe an Artist’s Lens synergy near a statue and damaged column.

Follow the available interaction prompt and use the Lens to reveal the concealed artwork.

Another player walkthrough reports that the Lens interaction can appear near the Destroyed Painting itself. If you receive a usable Lens prompt immediately after collecting it, try that before leaving the smaller room.

Completing the hidden interaction restores or reveals the artwork and awards Artist’s Touch.

Artist’s Touch is the reward you need to carry forward. It also progresses the Cursed Castle secret associated with the A Cage That Shimmers Rumor.

ESO Gallery of Curios Puzzle Not Working

If you can’t complete the normal curio challenge, first check whether you’ve selected the exact objects displayed at the beginning.

Objects with similar names aren’t necessarily interchangeable. A differently coloured skull or another version of a displayed curio may trigger an enemy encounter rather than count towards the three-object objective.

Artist’s Lens Missing From the Rubble

If you’ve found The Destroyed Painting but can’t interact with the nearby rubble, complete the ordinary three-curio objective and return to the location.

A player who successfully collected the Artist’s Lens reported already having completed the normal curio challenge. However, this doesn’t conclusively establish that finishing the challenge is required before the Lens can be obtained.

There’s currently no confirmed requirement to collect a secret item from another Nowhere Vault wing before obtaining Artist’s Lens.

Artist’s Touch Not Appearing

First, confirm that you actually collected Artist’s Lens from the rubble, rather than simply reading the painting clue.

Check for the Lens interaction around the painting and in the large southern gallery near the crypt stairs. Collecting the Lens alone isn’t the same as completing the Artist’s Touch secret.

If you’ve completed the interaction but haven’t received Artist’s Touch, check the relevant Rumor progression before leaving the room. Avoid repeating the normal curio search unless the game still shows that objective as incomplete.

What to Do With Artist’s Touch in ESO

Artist’s Touch is required for the next hidden objective in Sinking Courtyard, another challenge room within the Cursed Castle wing.

When you reach Sinking Courtyard, search the area for three Rain Totems. Artist’s Touch allows you to repair or activate these objects.

After all three totems have been activated, return to the Brackish Fountain and interact with it to obtain the Carafe of Salt Water.

The Carafe is then used in Haunted Undercroft, where it enables an additional interaction with the central cauldron. This summons the Stewmaster, a hidden boss that awards Connoisseur’s Vision when defeated.

Connoisseur’s Vision is eventually required for a separate secret in The Lakehouse within the Lunar Path wing.

Because the Nowhere Vault’s challenge rooms appear in a randomized order, Sinking Courtyard might not appear immediately after Gallery of Curios. You may need another visit before you can use Artist’s Touch.

Is Artist’s Touch Required for the Ancient Direnni Quasigriff?

Yes. Artist’s Touch forms part of the Cursed Castle secret progression associated with unlocking the Ancient Direnni Quasigriff mount.

The relevant sequence is:

1. Gallery of Curios: obtain Artist’s Lens and unlock Artist’s Touch.
2. Sinking Courtyard: use Artist’s Touch on the three Rain Totems and collect the Carafe of Salt Water.
3. Haunted Undercroft: use the Carafe at the cauldron and defeat the Stewmaster for Connoisseur’s Vision.
4. The Lakehouse: use Connoisseur’s Vision to unlock the Lunar Path Timeward Seal.

The wider mount objective also requires the other hidden seal routes in the Nowhere Vault. Completing Gallery of Curios alone won’t award the mount, but Artist’s Touch is one of the items needed to progress through the connected puzzles.

The ESO Gallery of Curios Puzzle has two clear objectives: find the three matching curios to complete the normal challenge, then investigate The Destroyed Painting and use Artist’s Lens to unlock Artist’s Touch. Both can be completed within Gallery of Curios without first obtaining another wing’s secret item.

Once you’ve received Artist’s Touch, you’ve finished the room’s hidden objective. The next stage is Sinking Courtyard, where repairing the Rain Totems and activating the Brackish Fountain will move you closer to completing the Cursed Castle secret chain.

Related ESO Gallery of Curios Puzzle Guides

Official source: ZeniMax Online Studios Update 51 launch issues report and the official ESO Update 51 patch documentation.