Label
Escher played with concepts such as infinity, reflection, and symmetry. His father, who was a civil engineer, instilled in him a lifelong interest in mathematics and science.
Escher created a series of three "Metamorphose" prints. All three feature Atrani, a small town on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. Escher lived in Italy from 1922 to 1935, traveling throughout the country to make landscape drawings that he would later turn into prints. With its dramatic mountains and ancient hill
towns, the Amalfi Coast was a particularly favorite region for Escher.
After Escher left Italy, his interest shifted from landscapes to something he described as “mental imagery.” This was prompted in part by a visit in 1936 to the palace of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The lavish tile work adorning the architecture inspired Escher in new directions with its flattened
patterning of interlocking forms. Replacing the abstract patterns of the tiles with recognizable figures, in the late 1930s Escher developed his new vision, used in his Metamorphose prints. The idea of “metamorphosis”—one shape or object turning into something completely different—became one of Escher's favorite themes.
In "Metamorphose II," the process begins left to right with the word metamorphose (the Dutch form of the word metamorphosis). This grid then becomes a black and white checkered pattern, which then becomes tessellations of reptiles, a honeycomb, insects, fish, birds, and a pattern of three-dimensional blocks and red tops. These blocks then become the architecture of Atrani, linked by a bridge to a tower in the water, which is actually a rook piece from a chess set. There are other chess pieces in the water and the water becomes a chess board. The chess board leads to a
checkered wall, which then returns to the word metamorphose, starting the process all over again.
