Ascending and Descending, an M. C. Escher lithograph print

Ascending and Descending is a lithograph print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher which was first printed in 1960. Hand with Reflecting Sphere (Self-Portrait in Spherical Mirror), 1935. ... Negative litography stone and positive print of a map of Munich Lithography is a method for printing on a smooth surface. ... Hand with Reflecting Sphere (Self-Portrait in Spherical Mirror), 1935. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ...

The original print measures 14" x 11 1/4”. The lithograph depicts a large building roofed by a never-ending staircase. Two lines of identically dressed men appear on the staircase, one line ascending whilst the other descends. Two figures sit apart from the people on the endless staircase: one in a secluded courtyard, the other on a lower set of stairs. While most two-dimensional artists use relative proportions to create an illusion of depth, Escher here and elsewhere uses conflicting proportions to create the visual paradox. Stairs, staircase, stairway, flight of stairs are all names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps. ...

Ascending and Descending was influenced by, and is an artistic implementation of, the Penrose stairs, an impossible object; Lionel Penrose had first published his concept in the February, 1958 issue of the British Journal of Psychology. Escher developed the theme further in his print Waterfall, which appeared in 1961. The Penrose stairs is an impossible object devised by Lionel Penrose and his son Roger Penrose and can be seen as a variation on his Penrose triangle. ... Two famous undecidable figures, the Penrose triangle and devils pitchfork. ... Lionel Sharples Penrose (1898-1972) was a British geneticist, psychiatrist, mathematician and chess theorist, who carried out pioneering work on inherited mental illnesses. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Waterfall is a lithograph print by the Dutch artist M.C. Escher which was first printed in October, 1961. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...