The Ladder of Divine Ascent

Emmanuel Tzanes painted The Ladder of Divine Ascent in 1663, illustrating the influential sixth-century text by Saint John Climacus that describes the spiritual journey as a thirty-step ladder from earth to heaven. This subject was one of the most important in Orthodox monastic art, traditionally depicted in monastery refectories and narthexes. Tzanes's version reflects his unique position bridging Byzantine iconographic tradition and Western Baroque painting in the Greek community of Venice.

The composition follows the traditional Byzantine scheme of figures ascending a diagonal ladder while demons attempt to pull them down. Tzanes adds Baroque spatial depth and atmospheric effects to this conventionally flat iconographic subject.