John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice

Carmen Casaliggi (Cardiff Metropolitan University)

Ed. by Gillian Fenwick, University of Toronto
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Domains

Art Theory and History

Dates

First circulation or publication 1851

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Mainly a treatise on architecture, John Ruskin’s

The Stones of Venice

(1851-3) was meant to apply to the buildings of Venice the general principles enunciated in

The Seven Lamps of Architecture

(1848). It moves, however, beyond the earlier work’s abstract treatment, not only because it dedicates substantial attention to the details of architectural construction, but also because it places architecture within its social, political, moral, and religious context. Volume I, “The Foundations”, discusses the edifices of Venice and their functional and ornamental aspects and presents a brief history of the city; in Volume II, “The Sea Stories”, Ruskin turned his thoughts to the Byzantine period and the climactic development of Venetian life, its Gothic period, which meant to him…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

3140 words

Citation: Casaliggi, Carmen. "The Stones of Venice". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 February 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7833, accessed 16 October 2024.]