''Reptiles'' is a
lithograph
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
print by the Dutch artist
M. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher (; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints.
Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for most of his life neglected in t ...
first printed in March 1943.
It touches on the theme found in much of his work of
mathematics in art.
Work
''Reptiles'' depicts a desk upon which is a two dimensional drawing of a
tessellated
A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to higher dimensions and a variety of ...
pattern of reptiles and hexagons, Escher's 1939 ''
Regular Division of the Plane''.
The reptiles at one edge of the drawing emerge into three dimensional reality, come to life and appear to crawl over a series of symbolic objects (a book on nature, a geometer's triangle, a three dimensional
dodecahedron
In geometry, a dodecahedron (Greek , from ''dōdeka'' "twelve" + ''hédra'' "base", "seat" or "face") or duodecahedron is any polyhedron with twelve flat faces. The most familiar dodecahedron is the regular dodecahedron with regular pentagon ...
, a pewter bowl containing a box of matches and a box of cigarettes) to eventually re-enter the drawing at its opposite edge. Other objects on the desk are a potted cactus and yucca, a ceramic flask with a cork stopper next to a small glass of liquid, a book of JOB cigarette rolling papers, and an open handwritten note book of many pages. Although only the size of small lizards, the reptiles have protruding crocodile-like fangs, and the one atop the dodecahedron has a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
-like puff of smoke billowing from its nostrils.
Once a woman telephoned Escher and told him that she thought the image was a "striking illustration of
reincarnation
Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...
".
The critic Steven Poole commented that one of Escher's "enduring fascinations" was "the contrast between the two-dimensional flatness of a sheet of paper and the illusion of three-dimensional volume that can be created with certain marks" when space and flatness exist side by side and are "each born from and returning to the other, the black magic of the artistic illusion made creepily manifest."
In popular culture
A colorized version of the lithograph was used by the rock band
Mott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fail ...
as the sleeve artwork for its
eponymous first album, released in 1969.
Music
In 1993,
Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse (born 2 November 1962) is an English composer and cellist who specializes in chamber music. He has composed a cello concerto, ''Three Pieces for Solo Cello'' and ''Variations for Cello Solo'' for his own instrument, and string ...
composed a piano trio, ''
Four Epigraphs after Escher'', in four movements, with the final one based on ''Reptiles''.
References
Sources
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External links
Decoration with Escher Lizardby William Chow.
{{Mathematical art
Works by M. C. Escher
Mathematical artworks
1943 paintings
Lizards in art