La Cathedrale engloutie (The Drowned Cathedral)

1929

M.C. Escher

Associated Names
M.C. Escher

Artist, Dutch, 1898 - 1972

This print shows two tall, pointed spires rising from a structure that seems to be emerging from dark water, creating thin white ripples. The building's design resembles a Gothic cathedral, with pointed arches and an ornate facade with a rose window. The water is almost at the roof of the cathedral, with most of the tall windows only partially visible. In the bottom right corner of the print, a small sailboat is seen gliding on the water by the submerged cathedral. Behind the cathedral, in the distance, the black water stretches on. Thin black chunks resembling icebergs seem to float above the water, and the dark sky is decorated with white stars and some thin vertical lines near the horizon line. The print is surrounded by a thick border of beige paper.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut

  • Credit Line

    Cornelius Van S. Roosevelt Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 72.39 × 41.59 cm (28 1/2 × 16 3/8 in.)
    sheet: 78.11 × 51.44 cm (30 3/4 × 20 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1973.65.16

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Bool 1981, no. 124


Artwork history & notes

Bibliography

1981

  • Bool, F.H. et al. M.C. Escher: His Life and Complete Graphic Work. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1981; English-language edition, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1982.

Wikidata ID

Q65574087

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