at a glance

selarón used to tell the story of how he earned a living by selling paintings of a black pregnant woman, a topic that, however, he did not want to discuss in depth for personal reasons. selarón had said that although it was long and hard work, he felt the need to continue until all the stairs were completely covered in ceramic, tiles, and mirrors.  

located on carneiro street, the steps are part of both, the lapa and santa teresa neighborhoods in rio de janeiro. there are a total of 250 steps, which are covered in over 2000 tiles collected from over 60 countries around the world.