The Stones of Venice worksheet: Upper arcade of Doge’s Palace, November 1849

Inscribed in black ink: "No 11. Details of bases of upper arcade, Doges palace / p. 34 M. Nov 14th. 1849."

This is an example of one of the vast number of studies made by Ruskin between 1849 and 1852 in preparation for The Stones of Venice (1851-53). These are examples of the ‘worksheets,’ meticulously drawn and measured on the spot, whose details were correlated with notebooks and other material. Ruskin made a list of 206 numbered worksheets, of which 78 are in the Ruskin Library (whole or fragmentary): no.11 is described as ‘Ducal Palace Upper Arcade.’