Ruskin's Venice: The Stones Revisited

by Alan Windsor (Introduction), Alan Windsor (Author), Sarah Quill (Author), Sarah Quill (Photographer), Alan Windsor (Introduction), Alan Windsor (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2000

  $15.35

  John Ruskin's three-volume The Stones of Venice (1851-3) remains massively influential in art and architecture. To mark the centenary of Ruskin's death, this illustrated guide links Ruskin's descriptions of individual buildings with a photograph of the architecture and sculpture as it is today. Much of Ruskin's prose is reproduced, together with many of his drawings and watercolours and a number of 19th-century engravings. Sarah Quill's photographs identify the details described by Ruskin and show the extent to which the city's architecture has survived, or changed, since first publication of The Stones of Venice . The opening chapter provides an introduction to Ruskin's involvment with Venice and to the periods and styles of Venetian architecture.

• Used

  Paperback
  2003

  $6.25

  John Ruskin's masterpiece The Stones of Venice (1851-53) was one of the most influential books on art and architecture ever written and is still regarded as a classic work. However, the problems posed by its length (almost half a million words in three volumes) make it a challenge to read in its entirety. Sarah Quill has resolved this challenge by selecting Ruskin's descriptions of individual buildings and linking them to her own photographs of the same buildings, so creating a guide that fuses Ruskin's vision of the city with images of the present day. Covering a wide range of subjects - from palaces, churches and town houses, to bridges, courtyards and capitals - Quill's photographs illuminate Ruskin's words and record the fine architectural details described by him: intricate brickwork, coloured marble, carvings and sculpture. In addition, many of Ruskin's own drawings and watercolours are reproduced, along with 19th-century engravings, providing a visual comparison between the Venice he encountered in the 1850s and the city we see today. Also included are extracts from Ruskin's letters and introductory chapters that provide background on Ruskin in Venice and Venetian architecture. The result is a book that communicates the writer's passion for Venice and his concern for her architectural heritage. Uniting the historical with the present day, Ruskin's Venice: The Stones Revisited is a companion guide for both the seasoned and first-time traveller to Venice.