Maurits Cornelis Escher (Leeuwarden, 17 June 1898 \u2013 Laren, 27 March 1972) was a Dutch printmaker and\ngraphic artist.
\nHis name is inseparably linked to his woodcuts, lithographs, wood engravings and mezzotints, which feature\nimpossible constructions, explorations of infinity, tessellations of the plane and space, and motifs of interconnected\ngeometries that gradually transform into increasingly different forms.
\nEscher\u2019s works are greatly admired by scientists, logicians, mathematicians and physicists, who are attracted\nby his rational use of polyhedra, geometric distortions and original interpretations of scientific concepts, often\nemployed to achieve paradoxical effects. Escher arrived in Italy in 1922 and remained there until 1936.
\nHe lived permanently in Rome, but every spring he undertook journeys to explore the Italian countryside. During\nthese travels he also visited Southern Italy, then little known and seldom frequented by foreign travellers.
\nIn 1930 he embarked on his journey through Calabria in the company of the Swiss artists Giuseppe Haas Triverio\nand Robert Schiess and the historian Jean Rousset. Escher arrived in Pizzo Calabro aboard a ship departing\nfrom Naples and wandered through Calabria for almost a month.
\nFrom Pizzo he continued southward by train and, following the Tyrrhenian coast, visited the towns of Tropea,\nScilla and Melito Porto Salvo.
\nFrom the latter locality, Escher and his companions were forced to continue their journey on muleback in order\nto reach several villages at the foot of Aspromonte, including Pentidattilo.
\nThe journey through Calabria then continued northward and the four friends visited Santa Severina, Rossano,\nMorano and Rocca Imperiale. During these explorations he discovered a land that was both rugged and fascinating.
\nHe filled his sheets with drawings, sketches and notes of the landscapes he encountered, which upon his return\nhe gathered into thirteen prints in a collection entitled \u201cCalabrie, 6 Woodcuts and 7 Lithographs,\u201d leaving\nbehind some beautiful engravings of the places he visited.
\nParticularly noteworthy were the two works created in Scilla in May 1930, depicting views of the town\u2019s two\ncoastal sides, corresponding to the districts of Marina Grande and Chianalea.
\nIn Scilla, Escher produced a series of preparatory pencil sketches that anticipated the beautiful lithograph\nshowing Marina Grande from above.\nThrough elegant and refined chiaroscuro, he captured the light of the Strait and masterfully spread it across\nthe houses and the castle standing out between sea and sky. Small boats bear witness to Scilla\u2019s age-old vocation\nfor fishing and maritime trade.
\nIn the second work, a woodcut engraving, the village is portrayed through a strong contrast of sharp, intense\nlight and deep black shadows.
\nThe view is taken from below, from the district of Chianalea, with the sea in the foreground, where pointed and\nirregular rocks emerge from the water, giving the scene an unreal and dramatically creative effect.
\nThese works represent an extraordinary example of Escher\u2019s ability to transform the landscape into a rigorous,\nalmost architectural construction, without sacrificing the evocative power of nature.
\nThe village perched upon the Castle rock, with its houses piled one upon another, is rendered with meticulous\nattention to detail, while the composition plays upon sharp contrasts of light and shadow that enhance the\nsense of depth.
\nThe Mediterranean lands, so profoundly different from his native homeland, exerted a deep fascination upon\nhim: he was struck by the sun and light of the South, the geometric architecture of the landscapes, the vertical\nconstructions on rocky outcrops, the cliffs overlooking the sea, and the layering of ancient cultures.
\nDuring his stay in Italy from 1922 to 1936, Escher developed many of the ideas and inspirations that would\ncharacterize his mature work and his studies of form, making him unique in his synthesis of science and art.<\/p>\n<\/div>
Giuseppe Ribuffo<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/i>Next page: 101. Canaloni Fountain, 17th century<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1417","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nMaurits Cornelis Escher - Discover Scilla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maurits Cornelis Escher - Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T08:45:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\\\/\",\"name\":\"Maurits Cornelis Escher - Discover Scilla\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T09:26:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-19T08:45:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Maurits Cornelis Escher\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Discover Scilla\",\"description\":\"Scopri territorio, storia e racconti di questa magica terra\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Discover Scilla\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/logo-discover-scilla.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/logo-discover-scilla.png\",\"width\":481,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Discover Scilla\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Maurits Cornelis Escher - Discover Scilla","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maurits Cornelis Escher - Discover Scilla","og_url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\/","og_site_name":"Discover Scilla","article_modified_time":"2026-08-19T08:45:02+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\/","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\/","name":"Maurits Cornelis Escher - Discover Scilla","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-06-23T09:26:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-19T08:45:02+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/maurits-cornelis-escher-scilla\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Maurits Cornelis Escher"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/","name":"Discover Scilla","description":"Scopri territorio, storia e racconti di questa magica terra","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#organization","name":"Discover Scilla","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/logo-discover-scilla.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/logo-discover-scilla.png","width":481,"height":250,"caption":"Discover Scilla"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1417"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2637,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1417\/revisions\/2637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}