Ruskin, John, 1819-1900,

The stones of Venice / John Ruskin. - Second Da Capo Press edition 2003. - 264 pages : charts, photographs ; 21 cm.

Includes index (pages 251-254).

I. The Qarry -- II. The Virtues of Architecture -- III. The Six Divisions of Architecture -- IV. The Wall Base -- V. The Wall Veil -- VI. The Wall Cornice -- VIII. The Arch -- IX. The Buttress -- X. Superimposition -- XI. The Material of Ornament -- XII. Treatment of Ornament. Book One. I. The Throne -- II. Torcello -- III. St. Mark's -- Book Two Part One: The Byzantine Period. IV. The Nature of Gothic -- V. The Ducal Palace. Part Two: The Gothic Period. VI. Early Renaissance -- VII. Roman Renaissance -- VIII. Grotesque Renaissance -- IX. Conclusion. Part Three: The Renaissance Period.

"It is in Venice, and in Venice only, that effectual blows can be struck at this pestilent art of the Renaissance. Destroy its claims to admiration there, and it can assert them nowhere else." This was Ruskin's war cry as he entered the now almost forgotten Battle of the Styles on the side against "the school which has conducted men's inventive and constructional faculties from the Grand Canal to Gower Street."But first the reader must know the difference between right and wrong; he must find out for himself the best way of doing everything. "I shall give him stones, and bricks and straw, chisels and trowels and the ground, and then ask him to build, only helping him if I find him puzzled."Unhappily, both these exciting objectives were attained only after the expenditure of nearly half-a-million words; glorious words, but too many. For fifty years, The Stones of Venice was read by all who went there and thousands who could not; the sightseers whom the city captivates today seldom have its greatest guidebook with them.It is the aim of this new edition to put a fascinating book within reach of travelers--active or armchair--with limited resources of time. Much that was superfluous has been omitted; what remains is the essence of a now very readable and portable book. It is a book for the lover of architecture, the lover of Venice, the lover of lost causes, and, perhaps above all, for the lover of fine writing.--backover. https://www.amazon.com/Stones-Venice-John-Ruskin/dp/030681286X

030681286X 9780306812866


Architecture--Italy --Venice
Architecture
Buildings
Buildings--Italy --Venice --Guidebooks


Venice (Italy)--Guidebooks
Venice (Italy)--Buildings, structures, etc.

NA1121.V4 / R7 2003