Escher in Calabria

95 Years Ago to the Day!

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Escher traveled Calabria with his friend, Giuseppe Haas-Triverio, during springtime of 1930. The two artists sought out interesting sites to inspire future artworks. The adventure was fruitful, Escher created 13 sequential artworks based on the area, starting with the woodcut Palizzi (bottom).  Cattolica di Stilo, appropriately, was number five, perfect for the five-spired Byzantine church.  Escher exercised a little creative liberty in the composition, erasing the town in the distance to give us a far more remote, and maybe a bit mysterious, lone fairytale church perched on a mountaintop. I visited the site in May of 2025 and took the photo from an area near Escher's sitting place (now covered by large paddle cacti).

A quiz for the Escher deep-divers: which print is in the background of the photograph?

This rare, early work is signed and numbered by Escher. Only forty were printed and many have been lost to time. Please inquire.  

The quiz answer is Fiumara de Stilo. Escher removed it from behind the church and gave it its own print.