The Stones of Venice

by John Ruskin, William McKeown (Editor)

Overview

In the early 1850s, John Ruskin published The Stones of Venice, a history of Venetian architecture. He asserted the moral and aesthetic superiority of Venice’s medieval buildings over structures from the Renaissance period. Ruskin’s engaging and beautifully crafted prose inspired his Anglo-American readers to travel to Venice, to construct Gothic Revival buildings in their own cities, and to critically examine the moral virtues of modern society and how those principles are reflected in modern architecture.

Since 1904, only abridged editions of The Stones of Venice have been published – all of which sacrifice Ruskin’s didacticism in favour of the aestheticism of a few select passages. As the first unabridged edition in over a century, this book restores the context for those selections. It retains Ruskin’s tripartite history of Venice and includes material omitted from abridged versions, including Ruskin’s supplementary folio. It features reproductions of many of Ruskin’s original sketches, which in previous editions appeared only as engraved copies. This edition includes his list of Venice’s most important buildings, with endnotes updating their contemporary status, as well as an appendix with selections from other Venetian-themed texts by Ruskin. Introducing new readers to an important literary figure, this book also features an introductory essay that situates The Stones of Venice within John Ruskin’s life and writings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487547196
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	02/13/2025
Series:	Lorenzo Da Ponte Italian Library
Pages:	1040
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 10.08(h) x 2.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Ruskin (1819–1900) was an English writer, philosopher, and art critic.
William C. McKeown is an associate professor of art history at the University of Memphis.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Editor’s Introduction
Notations on This Edition
A Bibliographical History of The Stones of Venice

Author’s Prefaces
First Edition (1851)
Third Edition (1874)
Travellers’ Edition (1879)

Volume I: The Foundations

List of Illustrations

1. The Quarry
2. The Virtues of Architecture
3. The Six Divisions of Architecture
4. The Wall Base
5. The Wall Veil
6. The Wall Cornice
7. The Pier Base
8. The Shaft
9. The Capital
10. The Arch Line
11. The Arch Masonry
12. The Arch Load
13. The Roof
14. The Roof Cornice
15. The Buttress
16. Form of Aperture
17. Filling of Aperture
18. Protection of Aperture
19. Superimposition
20. The Material of Ornament
21. Treatment of Ornament
22. The Angle
23. The Edge and Fillet
24. The Roll and Recess
25. The Base
26. The Wall Veil and Shaft
27. The Cornice and Capital
28. The Archivolt and Aperture
29. The Roof
30. The Vestibule

Author’s Appendix to Volume I

1. Foundation of Venice
2. Power of the Doges
3. Serrar Del Consiglio
4. S. Pietro Di Castello
5. Papal Power in Venice
6. Renaissance Ornaments
7. Varieties of the Orders
8. The Northern Energy
9. Wooden Churches of the North
10. Church of Alexandria
11. Renaissance Landscape
12. Romanist Modern Art
13. Mr. Fergusson’s System
14. Divisions of Humanity
15. Instinctive Judgments
16. Strength of Shafts
17. Answer to Mr. Garbett
18. Early English Capitals
19. Tombs at St. Anastasia
20. Shafts of the Ducal Palace
21. Ancient Representations of Water
22. Arabian Ornamentation
23. Varieties of Chamfer
24. Renaissance Bases
25. Romanist Decoration of Bases

Volume II: The Sea-Stories

List of Illustrations

First, or Byzantine Period

1. The Throne
2. Torcello
3. Murano
4. St. Mark’s
5. Byzantine Palaces

Second, or Gothic Period

6. The Nature of Gothic
7. Gothic Palaces
8. The Ducal Palace

Author’s Appendix to Volume II

1. The Gondolier’s Cry
2. Our Lady of Salvation
3. Tides of Venice, and Measures at Torcello
4. Date of the Duomo of Torcello
5. Modern Pulpits
6. Apse of Murano
7. Early Venetian Dress

Volume III: The Fall

List of Illustrations

Third, or Renaissance Period

1. Early Renaissance
2. Roman Renaissance
3. Grotesque Renaissance
4. Conclusion
Epilogue: Castel-Franco

Author’s Appendix to Volume III

1. Architect of the Ducal Palace
2. Theology of Spenser
3. Austrian Government in Italy
4. Date of the Palaces of the Byzantine Renaissance
5. Renaissance Side of Ducal Palace
6. Character of the Doge Michele Morosin
7. Modern Education
8. Early Venetian Marriages
9. Character of the Venetian Aristocracy
10. Final Appendix

Examples of the Architecture of Venice, Selected and Drawn to Measurement from the Edifices, Illustrative of The Stones of Venice

List of Illustrations
Author’s Preface to the First Edition (1851)
Descriptions of the Plates

Venetian Index
Explanatory Note
Introduction
Venetian Index

Editor’s Appendix

I. Selections from Samuel Rogers, Italy: a Poem (1830)
14. “Venice”
16. “St. Mark’s Place”
18. “The Brides of Venice”
II. Ruskin’s Early Literary Responses to Venice
“Venice” [c. 1835]
“Marcolini” [1836]: A Dramatic Fragment
III. Letters Written from Venice by Ruskin to his Father (1845).
IV. Selections from St. Mark’s Rest (1877-1884)
“Preface”
“St. James of the Deep Stream”
“The Requiem”

Notes
Further Reading
General Index

Editorial Reviews

“Ours is an era whose simulation, spectacle, and artificial intelligence challenge our notions of selfhood and society, making John Ruskin’s message on the ethics and aesthetics of building city and community ever more prescient. In The Stones of Venice, Ruskin employs the builder’s trowel as much as his captivating pen – readers must take his work whole. He guides us evocatively through Venice, but also apprentices us to erect the city stone by stone. With a perceptive introduction by William C. McKeown, this book truly gives us The Stones of Venice complete – both in its romance and in its ardent antiquarianism.”—Stephen Kite, Emeritus Professor, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University
“The Stones of Venice was a milestone not only for Ruskin – his most important book after Modern Painters – but also in nineteenth-century cultural history, encompassing art, architectural, and social history. Charlotte Brontë thought the Stones ‘nobly laid and chiselled’ with ‘the character, the marked individuality, which pervades every page.’ An unabridged edition of any of Ruskin’s major publications is a rare event, in this case enhanced by the knowledgeable and sensitive editing of William C. McKeown, who adds many informative notes as well as an insightful introduction.”—Stephen Wildman, Former Director, Ruskin Library and Research Centre, Lancaster University

From the Publisher

The enduring, passionate classic on architecture and Venice.

Washington Post Book World