Home/Symbols/Spiral staircaseSpiral staircase SymbolismAscent through discipline; a turning engine that divides, reveals, and structures actionCommon ThemesThe modern lens: urban life & speedMimesis vs. abstraction (truth vs. artifice)Gender & sexualityClass & inequalityBeauty & the idealLabor & workArtworks Featuring This SymbolThe Ballet RehearsalEdgar Degas (c. 1874)In The Ballet Rehearsal, Edgar Degas turns a practice room into a modern drama where <strong>discipline and desire</strong> collide. A dark <strong>spiral staircase</strong> slices the space, scuffed floorboards yawn open, and clusters of dancers oscillate between poised effort and weary waiting <sup>[1]</sup><sup>[4]</sup>.
