Lot Essay
This appears to be a reworking of the engraving of the south west portico, reproduced in Examples of the Architecture of Venice, 1851, pl.IV. For discussion of Ruskin's treatment of the southwest portico of St. Marks, see John Unrau, Ruskin and St. Marks, 1984, pp.114-9. The engraving is reproduced, pl.88.
It is unlikely that Ruskin would have reworked the plate for himself at this period, and it was therefore presumably done as part of a teaching exercise. The imprecise dating is typical of Ruskin's returning to a drawing or plate at a later date, and, in his dotage, dating it imprecisely because he could not remember the exact year that he produced it
It is unlikely that Ruskin would have reworked the plate for himself at this period, and it was therefore presumably done as part of a teaching exercise. The imprecise dating is typical of Ruskin's returning to a drawing or plate at a later date, and, in his dotage, dating it imprecisely because he could not remember the exact year that he produced it