M.C. Escher in Rome

We’re now smack in the middle of another busy semester at the Gregorian University, which doesn’t leave much time for getting out in Rome. (Seeing the hordes of tourists you might not believe it, but not everyone in Rome is on vacation!)

The Eternal City remains eternally fascinating, however, and every once in a while will throw something at you that you weren’t expecting. I thought I’d share a few pictures from a visiting exhibition at Palazzo Bonaparte from last year on M.C. Escher (1898-1972). The Dutchman is perhaps not who you think of when picturing an Italian artist, yet his travels in Italy between 1925-1935, especially in Calabria, were particularly formative for him. When you realize this, you begin to notice that the impossibly fantastical geometric architecture in so many of his works bears a striking resemblance to the look and feel of an Italian hilltop village.

(Below: Inside St. Peter’s [1935]; Mummified Priests in Gangi, Sicily [1932]; San Giorgio in Velabro [1934]; Still Life with Mirror [1934]. Note the holy card of St. Anthony in the corner of the mirror.)

For such an imaginative and surreal artist, Escher lived a surprisingly staid personal life. An amusing anecdote I recall from the exhibit told of how Escher refused a request from Mick Jagger to provide an image for the cover of a Rolling Stones album. In response to the rocker’s presumed informality, he made it very clear that, to Mr. Jagger, he was not M.C. or Maurits but, very sincerely, Mr. Escher.

I was especially interested in a few prints with religious themes, showing a less known side of Escher’s work. As with so many aspects of this enigmatic artist, the exact nature of Escher’s faith remains something of a mystery.