The Stones of Venice

John Ruskin (1819–1900) was a famous English historian and theorist of art, poet, publicist, author of works on ethics, aesthetics, and natural science, and a social reformer. In his universal system, art and architecture exist in close connection with morality, religion, human life, and ultimately, nature, while the industrial revolution and the capitalization of society prove equally destructive to the environment, human souls, and the creative process.

The monumental treatise "The Stones of Venice" was published by John Ruskin between 1851 and 1853, serving as a logical continuation of his famous essay "The Seven Lamps of Architecture." On the fertile material of the monuments of Venice, the author, with his characteristic enthusiasm, explores and analyzes the architectural heritage of different eras—from the treasures of Byzantine heritage to the creations of Renaissance architects, equally fascinated by the details of facades and contemplating large-scale historical processes.
The grand volume of the treatise was the reason that after the release of the first three-volume edition, it was repeatedly published in various abbreviated versions. In Russian, the treatise "The Stones of Venice" is also published in an abbreviated translation.