Why a Booktrail?
1819: ‘To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, religion, all in one’
To See Clearly: Why Ruskin Matters
What you need to know before your trail
John Ruskin – born 200 years ago, in February 1819 – was the greatest critic of his age: a critic not only of art and architecture but of society and life. But his writings – on beauty and truth, on work and leisure, on commerce and capitalism, on life and how to live it – can teach us more than ever about how to see the world around us clearly and how to live it.
Travel Guide
BookTrail the locations of John Rushkin
Dr Suzanne Fagence Cooper delves into Ruskin’s writings and uncovers the dizzying beauty and clarity of his vision. Whether he was examining the exquisite carvings of a medieval cathedral or the mass-produced wares of Victorian industry, chronicling the beauties of Venice and Florence or his own descent into old age and infirmity, Ruskin saw vividly the glories and the contradictions of life, and taught us how to see them as well.
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 – 20 January 1900) was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, as well as a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on varied subjects and made sketches of flora, fauna and buildings.
Venice
In 1835 he first visited Venice, that ‘Paradise of cities’ that provided the subject and symbolism of much of his work later on.
BookTrail Boarding Pass:To See Clearly: Why Ruskin Matters
Destination: The Lake District, Lake Coniston, London, Venice Author/guide: Suzanne Fagence Cooper Departure Time: 1819
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