Ravello II

Ravello II: Where Geometry Meets the Italian Coast

Few artists have manipulated perspective with the precision of Mc Escher, and Ravello II stands as a masterclass in his ability to fuse mathematical rigor with Mediterranean charm. This lithograph transforms the cliffside town of Ravello—perched above Italy’s Amalfi Coast—into a labyrinth of receding planes and impossible angles. The composition plays with the viewer’s perception: terraced gardens ascend in defiance of gravity, while the distant Tyrrhenian Sea remains stubbornly horizontal. Escher’s signature tension between order and illusion is here rendered in crisp blacks and whites, with the textural contrast of stone walls and cypress trees adding organic warmth to the geometric puzzle.

The work emerged during Escher’s Italian period (1923–1935), when he abandoned his early Art Nouveau influences in favor of the structural experiments that would define his career. Ravello, with its vertiginous topography and Moorish architecture, provided the perfect subject for his investigations into multiple vanishing points. Unlike his later infinite staircases or metamorphosing reptiles, Ravello II grounds its surrealism in observable reality—every distorted balcony and elongated archway could, with a squint, exist. This duality between the plausible and the paradoxical makes the print endlessly engaging, rewarding prolonged study as the eye traces each impossible connection.

Escher’s Italian Years: The Birth of a Visual Language

Mc Escher’s decade in Italy marked a turning point where he shed the decorative tendencies of his Dutch training. The country’s dramatic landscapes and ancient architecture became, as he wrote in 1932, “an inexhaustible source of inspiration.” Ravello—with its 13th-century cathedral and Villa Rufolo’s terraced gardens—offered a microcosm of the contradictions that fascinated him: human craftsmanship imposing order on nature’s chaos. Unlike the Futurists who glorified modernity’s speed, Escher found his muse in the metaphysical stillness of medieval towns, where every cobblestone seemed to defy the laws of perspective.

The lithographs from this period, including Ravello II, reveal his growing obsession with “the regular division of the plane,” a concept he would later formalize in his tessellation works. Here, the technique is subtler: the repetition of arched windows and the rhythmic spacing of cypress trees create a grid that the eye follows, only to be confounded by the warped proportions. This tension between pattern and disruption became the hallmark of his mature style, bridging the gap between the Dutch De Stijl movement’s geometric abstraction and the narrative surrealism emerging in Paris.

Ravello II is Escher at his most deceptive—not because it lies, but because it tells the truth too precisely. The print doesn’t just depict a place; it exposes how the mind reconstructs space from fragments, filling gaps with assumption. That unease you feel? That’s the moment you realize your brain is the real illusionist.

The Lithographer’s Craft: How Ravello II Was Made

Layered Ink and Optical Tricks

Escher produced Ravello II using lithography, a method that allowed him to build the image in successive inkings on limestone. The technique demanded reverse thinking: he drew on the stone with greasy crayon, then chemically fixed the areas to repel ink. For this print, he likely used at least three stones—one for the deep blacks of the arches, another for the mid-tone grays of the walls, and a third for the fine white highlights on the foliage. The result is a tactile quality where the ink seems to sit on the paper rather than within it, enhancing the illusion of carved stone.

Perspective as a Puzzle

The composition employs a triple vanishing point system: one for the foreground terrace, another for the midground buildings, and a third for the distant sea. This violates classical perspective rules but creates a disorienting depth that pulls the viewer into the scene. Escher further exaggerated the vertical scale, compressing the height of the cypress trees while elongating the church tower. The effect mimics the “vertical exaggeration” used in medieval paintings to denote spiritual significance—here repurposed to serve a purely perceptual game.

Where to Hang Ravello II: A Designer’s Perspective

This print’s high-contrast palette and architectural subject matter make it surprisingly versatile. In a modernist interior, pair it with warm wood tones and terrazzo surfaces to soften its geometric intensity—the 30×40 cm size works above a console table or flanking a fireplace. For Mediterranean-inspired spaces, let it anchor a gallery wall alongside textured ceramics and woven baskets; the black frame will ground the organic shapes. Avoid busy patterns nearby: Ravello II demands breathing room to let its illusions unfold. Ideal lighting? A picture light or track fixture positioned to cast a subtle shadow, enhancing the lithograph’s dimensionality.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Works by Mc Escher

Escher’s oeuvre spans impossible architectures, metamorphosing forms, and Italian landscapes—each print a study in perception.

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Nocturnal Rome: Basilica Of Constantine

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Scilla, Calabria (February 1931)

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Twon Tree

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Palm

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