JOHN RUSKIN | Between Verona and Vicenza stopping at the Railroad

Anne Dundas (1830-1913);
by family descent to the present owner

On loan to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (1913-2018)

E.T. Cook and A. Wedderburn (eds.), The Works of John Ruskin (Library Edition), London, 1912, vol. 38, p. 302, no. 2041 

Although the balance of the composition remains good, some of the delicate pigments in the sky have faded. This can been seen upon comparing the extreme upper left and right edges of the sheet with the areas immediately to the left and right. There is some occasional surface dirt.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

During their stay in Venice over 1851-52, Ruskin and his wife Effie attended the Radetzky Ball at Verona on 23 February and returned to Venice by the eleven o’clock train on 24 February. In a letter to her mother of 24/25 February on her return, Effie wrote that: 'We started for Venice at eleven … and were a pretty large party altogether … and chattered away very agreeably ... A Tube broke in front and we were kept from reaching Venice till five o’clock.'¹ There must have been a stoppage on the Verona-Vicenza-Padua-Venice line, Ruskin using the opportunity to make the present drawing.  In a postscript to a letter of 24 February to his father, Ruskin wrote that: "We had a delightful journey from Verona. I never saw Italy look more lovely - the snowy mountains against soft blue sky - and the purple hills below them clear in the early sunshine of the spring.'²  

We are grateful to Professor Stephen Wildman for his help when cataloguing this work.



1. Mary Lutyens (ed.), Effie in Venice: Unpublished Letters of Mrs John Ruskin written from Venice between 1849-1852, London, 1963, pp. 276-77 
2. J.L. Bradley (ed.), Ruskin's Letters from Venice 1851-52, Yale, 1955, p. 197