Washerwoman below stairs, a kitchen maid, haggling in the market, selling fish door-to-door, pouring milk, farming families, and drinking.
Koedijck
Stairs to fall down, to sit in disgrace, or pose with your sibling? Stairs winding up and defying gravity, bearing ballet dancers, or in a Gothic prison.
The visual tradition of a stairway to heaven appears quite recent. I propose that Blake was its originator.
The Eclectic Light Company 