Three Spheres II is a lithograph

Lithography

Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...

 print by the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 artist M. C. Escher

M. C. Escher

Maurits Cornelis Escher , usually referred to as M. C. Escher , was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints...

 which was first printed in April 1946.

As the title implies, it depicts three sphere

Sphere

A sphere is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in two dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point...

s on a flat surface.

The sphere on the left is transparent with a photorealistic depiction of the refracted

Refraction

Refraction is the change in direction of a wave due to a change in its speed. It is essentially a surface phenomenon . The phenomenon is mainly in governance to the law of conservation of energy. The proper explanation would be that due to change of medium, the phase velocity of the wave is changed...

 light cast through it towards the viewer and onto the flat surface.

The sphere in the center is reflective. Its reflection

Mirror image

A mirror image is a reflected duplication of an object that appears identical but reversed. As an optical effect it results from reflection off of substances such as a mirror or water. It is also a concept in geometry and can be used as a conceptualization process for 3-D structures...

 is a self-replicating image of Escher in his studio drawing the three spheres. In the reflection one can clearly see the image of the three spheres on the paper Escher is drawing on: in the center sphere of that image, one can vaguely make out the reflection of Escher’s studio which is depicted in the main image. This process is implied to be infinite, recursive

Recursion

Recursion is the process of repeating items in a self-similar way. For instance, when the surfaces of two mirrors are exactly parallel with each other the nested images that occur are a form of infinite recursion. The term has a variety of meanings specific to a variety of disciplines ranging from...

.

The sphere on the right is opaque

Opacity (optics)

Opacity is the measure of impenetrability to electromagnetic or other kinds of radiation, especially visible light. In radiative transfer, it describes the absorption and scattering of radiation in a medium, such as a plasma, dielectric, shielding material, glass, etc...

 and diffuse, i.e. neither specularly reflective nor transparent.

See also

• Still Life with Spherical Mirror
  Still Life with Spherical Mirror
  Still Life with Spherical Mirror is a lithography print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher which was first printed in November, 1934. It depicts a setting with rounded bottle and a metal sculpture of a bird with a human face seated atop a newspaper and a book...
  
  
• Hand with Reflecting Sphere
• Printmaking
  Printmaking
  Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
  
  

Sources

• Locher, J.L. (2000). The Magic of M. C. Escher. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-6720-0.