Northwest Porch of St. Mark's, Venice - architectural drawing by John Ruskin (1877)
AUGUST 9TH, 2026
"It was Ruskin’s eye, his powers of argument and superb drawings that led Venetians away from the idea of renovating St Mark’s so that it would look brand new towards a subtle restoration retaining the patina of past ages of craftsmanship, use and care.
What Ruskin could never have dreamed of was the fact that his writings inspired by Venice and his drawings of Venetian architecture would help spark an intellectual and aesthetic revolution a quarter of a century after his death."
~ Jonathan Glancey for ArchDaily, "The Power of Architectural Drawing: The Sketches That Saved St. Mark's" (2017)
Sources:
- VictorianWeb - color variation (word nerds may also want to read about Ruskin's word painting)
- Wikimedia Commons
- Pre-Raphaelite Influenced Art (blog)
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