Ladders are not really that hard to find in illustrations and artwork, but I thought they’d make for an interesting linkspage topic – it shows different types of ladders (in terms of how they were constructed), as well as various situations (both in terms of everyday scenes and biblical stories) in which they appear.

• Building the Tower of Babel, Old English Illustrated Hexateuch (British Library Cotton Claudius B. IV, fol. 19), second quarter of the 11th century
• Jacob with the Tree of Jesse, stained glass window from Freiburg, c. 1218
• Fols. 3r, 4r, 7r, 11v, 14r, 27v, 38v, 40r, and 42r from the Maciejowski Bible (PML M.638), c. 1250
• Two men with a ladder, the Maastricht Hours (Brit. Lib. STowe 17, fol. 108v), 1st quarter of the 14th century
• Seige of the Castle of Love, the Luttrell Psalter (Brit. Lib. Add. 42130, fol. 75v), c. 1325-1340
• Bas-de-page: a woman defending a castle from an attacker, Smithfield Decretals (British Library Royal 10 E IV, fol. 18v), c. 1340
• Building the Tower of Babel, the Egerton Genesis Picture Book (British Library Egerton 1894, fol. 5v), c. 1360
• The hangings of Pierre de la Brosse (fol. 15) and Enguerrand de Marigny (fol. 51), Chroniques de France ou de St Denis (British Library Royal 20 C VII), after 1380
• Harvesting chicken eggs, Tacuinum Sanititatis (BNF NAL 1673, fol. 60), c. 1390-1400
• Execution of Pierre de la Brosse (fol. 15), French destroying Genoa (fol. 19), Enguerrand de Marigny hanged (fol. 51), Chroniques de France ou de St. Denis (British Library Royal 20 C VII), end of the 14th century
• Vinegar, Tacuinum Sanitatis (BNF Latin 9333, fol. 83v), 15th century
• Deposition, the Hours of William Porter (PML M.105, fol. 110r), c. 1420-1425
• The Holy Family with Angels, c. 1425
• ffritz Decker, the Mendel Housebook (Amb. 317.2, fol. 24r), c. 1425
• Fols. The story of a lady and a dim-witted friar in the Decameron (BNF Arsenal 5070, fol. 103v), 1432
• Detail from Deposition by Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1435
• Detail from the Santa Trinità Altarpiece by Fra Angelico, 1437-1440
• Crucifixion from the frescos at San Marco by Fra Angelico, c. 1437-1446
• Edelheere Altarpiece, 1443
• The Abegg Triptych by Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1445
• The prisoners donate votive offerings from the altarpiece of the Filialkirche St. Leonhard at Bad Aussee, c. 1455-1465
• The death of Abimelech, illustrated chronicles (ÖNB 2823, fol. 151v), 1463
• Deposition, 1470s
• Siege defenses: an idea for defending a fortress by pushing enemy ladders away, by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1480-1482
• A rope ladder and a folding ladder, The Wolfegg Housebook, fols. 53v-53v1, after 1480


• Gathering fruit, De proprietatibus rerum (British Library Royal 15 E II, fol. 247v), 1482
• Detail from Deposition by Thomas von Villach, c. 1483-1493
• The dream of Jacob, Kuttenberger Kantionale (ÖNB Mus. Hs. 15501, fol. 116v), 1490
• Right wing of the Haywain Triptych by Hieronymus Bosch, 1500-1502
• Deposition, c. 1500-1505
• December, The Great Hours of Anne of Brittany (BNF Latin 9474, fol. 15), c. 1503-1508
• Deposition from the Cross by Filippino Lippi, c. 1506
• Lamentation by Albrecht Dürer, 1507
• Detail from the Crucifixion from the altarpiece at Chyzné, Slovakia, c. 1510-1520
• Deposition by Bacchiacca, c. 1518
• The healing of a servant who has fallen from a ladder, c. 1518-1522
• Descent from the Cross by Rosso Fiorentino, 1521
• Ecce Homo by the Brunswick Monogrammist, c. 1545
• Prudence by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559
• Crucifixion, service book of Pius IV (British Library Additional 21412, ff. 90 a and b), c. 1559-1565
• A man climbs a ladder to offer a tree-branch, Splendor Solis (British Library Harley 3469, fol. 15), 1582