Ascension

This is also a (potentially) philosophical picture...

 

- Shades of Secondary Qualities -

The colours ascend the stairs, which appear to be painted in shades of blue, red and yellow. But this is a mere illusion: the stairs do not have the property they seem to have. Reflection is the source of the illusion: the prismatic shades are produced by the sunlight filtering through the stained glass windows of St. Denis’ Basilica. What if reflection revealed a generalised phenomenon? What if colours did not really exist? Colours have been considered secondary qualities, that is, properties that do not exist in the things themselves, but are merely subjective and cannot be accurately measured (different accounts can be found in, e.g., Galileo, Descartes, Locke, Hume). Secondary qualities have been contrasted with primary qualities, such as solidity and extension. This contrast is captured by the image. The hardness of the stone and its shape contrast with the ephemerality of the colours: it suffices a cloud or a change in perspective to destroy the latter, but not the former.

Done