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'''''Ascending and Descending''''' is a [[Prints|lithograph]] print by the Dutch artist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.C.Escher M.C. Escher] which was first printed in March 1960.
The [[original]] [[print]] measures 14" x 11 1/4”. The lithograph depicts a large building roofed by a never-ending staircase. Two lines of identically dressed men appear on the staircase, one line ascending whilst the other descends. Two figures sit apart from the people on the [[eternal|endless]] staircase: one in a secluded courtyard, the other on a lower set of stairs. While most two-[[dimensional]] artists use [[relative]] proportions to [[create]] an [[illusion]] of depth, Escher here and elsewhere uses conflicting proportions to create the visual [[paradox]].
''Ascending and Descending'' was [[influence]]d by, and is an artistic implementation of, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Penrose Penrose stairs], an impossible object; Lionel Penrose had first published his concept in the February, 1958 issue of the ''British Journal of Psychology''. Escher developed the theme further in his [[print]] ''Waterfall'', which appeared in 1961.
==References in popular culture==
* [http://www.voidgamers.com/channel/HirstArts/HADD7/b.356.r.386.html Ascending and Descending] A wonderful 3D forced perspective model was build as part of a kit building contest
==Sources==
*Locher, J.L. (2000). ''The Magic of M. C. Escher''. ISBN 0-8109-6720-0.