Brian Anderson, Stairway from heaven (PLACES 2025)

The helical stairway in the Vatican Museum leads the eye to the central pedestal at the bottom of the helix, leads the patrons to exit past the pedestal at the apex of the helix, and signifies the descent from the heavenly treasures to the real world below. The blurred figures on the stairs illustrate the descent without distracting from the focal point, the centre of the helix.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.