Relativity, 1953

Relativity, first issued in 1953, is one of Escher's central impossible-architecture lithographs. The image sets three gravitational systems inside one architectural interior, so stairs, doors, arches, and figures read coherently from one orientation and impossibly from another. This impression is signed and numbered in pencil in the lower margin, No. 12/50 II, with Escher's monogram and VII-'53 in the upper-left corner of the image. The primary image shows the cropped sheet view; the secondary image presents the same impression against a dark ground so the sheet, margins, and physical object can be read more clearly.