A visual method for authenticating and/or checking the integrity of authentic subjects, comprising the following steps: - selecting at least one authentic subject from material subjects which each have at least one authentication region which has, under specific observation conditions, an intrinsic material structure which cannot be readily reproduced and which corresponds to a texture which can be observed by an observer having average visual acuity and which is not the subject of any addition to the authentication region of a structure whose unique function would be to generate a Glass pattern by means of superimposition of images of this specific structure, - in a recording phase: - acquiring at least one so-called authentication image of each authentic subject comprising at least the authentication region, the acquisition being carried out at a specific acquisition magnification or enlargement under specific conditions so that, for an observer having average visual acuity, the image of the authentication region has at least one texture having a continuous random component, the magnification or the enlargement of the acquisition enabling the superimposition of the acquisition image and the candidate subject at a same scale, - recording the authentication image, - in a visual verification phase: at least partially superimposing each authentication image and the authentication region of a candidate subject and carrying out an at least local non-zero residual geometric transformation of the authentication image and/or a non-zero relative displacement of the authentication image relative to the candidate subject then superimposition in order to allow observation, on the resultant image of the superimposition after the geometric transformation and/or the displacement, of an optical phenomenon of the Glass pattern type, when the candidate subject is the authentic subject corresponding to the authentication image, the displacement being of low amplitude with respect to the maximum displacement caused by the residual geometric transformation. - selecting at least one authentic subject from material subjects which each have at least one authentication region which has, under specific observation conditions, an intrinsic material structure which cannot be readily reproduced and which corresponds to a texture which can be observed by an observer having average visual acuity and which is not the subject of any addition to the authentication region of a structure whose unique function would be to generate a Glass pattern by means of superimposition of images of this specific structure, - in a recording phase: - acquiring at least one so-called authentication image of each authentic subject comprising at least the authentication region, the acquisition being carried out at a specific acquisition magnification or enlargement under specific conditions so that, for an observer having average visual acuity, the image of the authentication region has at least one texture having a continuous random component, the magnification or the enlargement of the acquisition enabling the superimposition of the acquisition image and the candidate subject at a same scale, - recording the authentication image, - in a visual verification phase: at least partially superimposing each authentication image and the authentication region of a candidate subject and carrying out an at least local non-zero residual geometric transformation of the authentication image and/or a non-zero relative displacement of the authentication image relative to the candidate subject then superimposition in order to allow observation, on the resultant image of the superimposition after the geometric transformation and/or the displacement, of an optical phenomenon of the Glass pattern type, when the candidate subject is the authentic subject corresponding to the authentication image, the displacement being of low amplitude with respect to the maximum displacement caused by the residual geometric transformation. - acquiring at least one so-called authentication image of each authentic subject comprising at least the authentication region, the acquisition being carried out at a specific acquisition magnification or enlargement under specific conditions so that, for an observer having average visual acuity, the image of the authentication region has at least one texture having a continuous random component, the magnification or the enlargement of the acquisition enabling the superimposition of the acquisition image and the candidate subject at a same scale, - recording the authentication image, - in a visual verification phase: at least partially superimposing each authentication image and the authentication region of a candidate subject and carrying out an at least local non-zero residual geometric transformation of the authentication image and/or a non-zero relative displacement of the authentication image relative to the candidate subject then superimposition in order to allow observation, on the resultant image of the superimposition after the geometric transformation and/or the displacement, of an optical phenomenon of the Glass pattern type, when the candidate subject is the authentic subject corresponding to the authentication image, the displacement being of low amplitude with respect to the maximum displacement caused by the residual geometric transformation.