Plane symmetry pm


pm consists of two reflections and a translation. The two reflections create infinite sequences of images in the direction perpendicular to the mirrors, in the same way that parallel mirrors in real life create infinite "corridors" of reflections. The translation then copies these infinite sequences over the entire plane.


pm is unusual in that Escher does not make use of this plane symmetry in his work. He did sketch a tile pattern from the Alhambra with this symmetry (if the colors are ignored) in 1936.
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This page maintained by John Grant McLoughlin
Email: johngm@morgan.ucs.mun.ca
Last modified 13 August, 1998