''Metamorphosis III'' is a
woodcut
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...
print by the
Dutch artist
M. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher (; ; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made woodcuts, lithography, lithographs, and mezzotints, many of which were Mathematics and art, inspired by mathematics.
Despite wide popular int ...
created during 1967 and 1968. Measuring , this is Escher's largest print. It was printed on thirty-three blocks on six combined sheets.
It begins identically to ''
Metamorphosis II'', with the word ''metamorphose'' (the
Dutch form of the word ''
metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth transformation or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and different ...
'') forming a grid pattern and then becoming a black-and-white checkered pattern. Then the first set of new imagery begins. The angles of the checkered pattern change to elongated diamond shapes. These then become an image of flowers with bees. This image then returns to the diamond pattern and back into the checkered pattern.
It then resumes with the ''Metamorphosis II'' imagery until the bird pattern. The birds then become sailing boats. From the sailing boats the image changes to a second fish pattern. Then from the fish to horses. The horses then become a second bird pattern. The second bird pattern then becomes black-and-white triangles, which then become envelopes with wings. These winged envelopes then return to the black-and-white triangles and then to the original bird pattern. It then resumes with the ''Metamorphosis II'' print until its conclusion.
See also
*''
Metamorphosis I''
*''
Metamorphosis II''
*''
Atrani, Coast of Amalfi''
*''
Regular Division of the Plane''
*
Tessellation
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 ...
Sources
*Locher, J. L. (2000). ''The Magic of M. C. Escher''.
Harry N. Abrams, Inc. .
External links
Images of ''Metamorphosis I, II and III'' and other well-known works at mcescher.com
Works by M. C. Escher
1968 paintings
Woodcuts
Birds in art
Horses in art
Insects in art
Fish in art
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