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John Ruskin
1819-1900
A Doorway Near Marco Polo's House, Venice
ca. 1846-1851
Pen and brown ink, graphite, and blue wash on paper.
13 1/4 x 9 3/4 inches (336 x 252 mm)
Purchased on the Gordon Ray and the Ryskamp Fund.
2024.106
Notes:
Ruskin spent much time in Venice in the 1840s, leading up to his publication in 1851 of The Stones of Venice, in which he comprehensively detailed the medieval architecture of the city. This large sheet is typical of the so-called "worksheets" he made in preparation for the monumental three-volume work. The doorway he examines here, in a courtyard near the house of Marco Polo, appears as figure 7a in plate XIV of volume 2, and the doorway is mentioned both in volume 2 and 3 in discussions of the development of Venetian Gothic.
Inscription:
Extensively inscribed with notes throughout.
Provenance:
Sotheby's, London, 24 July 1930 ("Sale of the manuscripts and remaining library of John Ruskin, removed from his residence, Brantwood, Coniston"); where acquired by Goodspeed's Bookshop, Boston; from which bought in 1932 by John Gilbert Winant (1889-1947); by descent to his son Rivington Winant (1925-2011); acquired by Guy Peppiatt Fine Art from his estate in 2013; from whom acquired by the Morgan, 2024.
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