The Art of Escher

Brilliant Dutch artist Maurits Cornelis Escher comes to the Museo degli Innocenti in the second half of October: an anthological exhibition with some 200 works and his most iconic pieces that have made him world-famous.

Born in 1898 in Holland, the artist first visited Italy in 1922, where he then lived for many years, visiting it from north to south and representing it in many of his works. Restless, reserved and undoubtedly brilliant, in his famous etchings and lithographs he created a unique and imaginative world where art, mathematics, science, physics and design converge. Because of his unmistakable style, Escher is one of the most beloved artists worldwide, so much that exhibitions dedicated to him have broken all visitor records.

Among the most iconic works on display here you’ll find: “Hand with Reflecting Sphere” (1935), “Bond of Union” (1956), “Metamorphosis II” (1939), “Day and Night” (1938) and the “Emblemata” series.

The Escher exhibition takes the form of the first major exhibition event within the monumental complex-designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, which houses the wonderful and extremely rich Museo degli Innocenti. Between history, art and architecture, the Museum’s collection features works acquired through donations or as a result of the disruption of other welfare institutions, and contains a number of masterpieces by major artists including Domenico Ghirlandaio, Luca and Andrea della Robbia, Sandro Botticelli and Piero di Cosimo, as well as artists who grew up at the Innocenti and were initiated into painting by Prior Vincenzo Borghini, such as Vincenzo Ulivieri, Giovan Battista Naldini and Francesco Morandini (known as Poppi).