Stones of Venice - Volume I

"More than simply a survey of an ancient city's most significant buildings, The Stones of Veniceżfirst published in three volumes between 1851 and 1853żis an expression of a philosophy of art, nature, and morality that goes beyond art history, and has inspired such thinkers as Leo Tolstoy, Marcel Proust, and Mahatma Gandhi. Volume I, intended as the groundwork for the author's subsequent architectural teaching, provides a brief history of Venice and an analysis of architectureżs functional and ornamental aspects. Unabridged, and containing Ruskinżs original drawings, this guide to the moral, spiritual, and aesthetic implications of architecture will be appreciated by students and scholars alike. The preeminent art critic of his time, British writer JOHN RUSKIN (1819ż1900) had a profound influence upon European painting, architecture, and aesthetics of the 19th and 20th centuries. His immense body of literary works include Modern Painters, Volume IżIV (1843ż1856); The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849); Unto This Last (1862); Munera Pulveris (1862ż3); The Crown of Wild Olive (1866); Time and Tide (1867); and Fors Clavigera (1871-84)."