Catania, Sicily

On 27 April 1936 Escher embarks upon the freighter Rossini from the Italian town of Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia). Earlier, he had travelled from his residence Chateau d’Oeux to Trieste by train. With the Rossini he travels to Venice, Ancona and Bari. From 2 to 4 May he visits the Sicilian harbour town of Catania.

Then it is off to Malta, Messina, Palermo, Naples, Livorno and Genoa. There, his wife Jetta joins him, after which the couple travels to Spain. This print shows Catania’s fishing harbour, a wood engraving that he made later that year. Escher allows himself some artistic license in his print: in reality, Mount Etna cannot be seen like this from this angle.