Facade of The Doge's Palace, Venice - Head of Adam

John Ruskin 1819 - 1900

Summary

Sketch of an architectural detail. Leaves with birds and animals to the right, the head of a man with curly hair to the left. Blue wash in the background suggests the sky beyond. Verso features architectural sketches in pencil along with red wax blots over drawing.

Display Label

Facade of The Doge's Palace, Venice - Head of Adam about 1845 John Ruskin 1819-1900 Watercolour and pencil on paper Ruskin referred to this architectural detail in his book The Stones of Venice (1851-3) as ‘the Fig-tree angle’. However, he decided to illustrate a different corner of the palace for publication, finding that Adam and the noble tree were better rendered on a larger scale. Visitors to the Manchester Art Museum were privileged to have access to this supplementary, superior illustration drawn for a famous book. The ‘book on the wall’ is now a disparaging term for a boring display but for Horsfall it was a considered way of sharing knowledge with those too poor to own their own books. Transferred from the Horsfall Museum Collection 1918.475