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Mañanas en Florencia
En 1845, el mismo año en que Ruskin visitó Florencia por vez primera, Thoreau escribió en Walden: “La mañana es la hora del despertar. Es entonces cuando estamos menos soñolientos y, al menos durante una hora, despierta una parte de nosotros que dormita el resto del día y la noche”. Treinta años después, Mañanas en Florencia sería más que una guía de arte para los viajeros ingleses del siglo XIX: una obra destinada a despertar la fe en la mirada del público, a recordarle que el tiempo de su visita a las grandes iglesias de la cristiandad en Florencia había de tener la calidad de las mejores horas del día. Cada día se concentra para Ruskin en la mañana, y cada una de las seis mañanas de esta singular creación se vuelve el marco iconográfico de una revelación distinta. Ruskin escribió que un libro no vale nada si no vale mucho. La relectura de estas páginas desborda sus circunstancias por el propósito de grabar en la mente del turista una lección sobre el “bien absoluto” del arte medieval. Las pinturas de Giotto, los temas del “libro abovedado” o los relieves de la torre del pastor forman parte de un recorrido que permite apreciar tanto la belleza inmortal de la ciudad italiana como el modo en que Ruskin convirtió el arte en “lengua paterna” de la religión de la humanidad.
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1873
About the author
John Ruskin
3,904 books502 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
John Ruskin was an English writer, philosopher, art historian, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy.
Ruskin was heavily engaged by the work of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc which he taught to all his pupils including William Morris, notably Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionary, which he considered as "the only book of any value on architecture". Ruskin's writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, architectural structures and ornamentation. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society.
Ruskin was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.
Ruskin first came to widespread attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), an extended essay in defence of the work of J.M.W. Turner in which he argued that the principal role of the artist is "truth to nature". From the 1850s, he championed the Pre-Raphaelites, who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and political issues. Unto This Last (1860, 1862) marked the shift in emphasis. In 1869, Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly "letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain", published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild of St George, an organisation that endures today.
John Ruskin was an English writer, philosopher, art historian, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy.
Ruskin was heavily engaged by the work of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc which he taught to all his pupils including William Morris, notably Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionary, which he considered as "the only book of any value on architecture". Ruskin's writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, architectural structures and ornamentation. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society.
Ruskin was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.
Ruskin first came to widespread attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), an extended essay in defence of the work of J.M.W. Turner in which he argued that the principal role of the artist is "truth to nature". From the 1850s, he championed the Pre-Raphaelites, who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and political issues. Unto This Last (1860, 1862) marked the shift in emphasis. In 1869, Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly "letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain", published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild of St George, an organisation that endures today.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 26, 2023
Parts of this are very inspiring but it isn’t a book I would think of as a must read unless you are planning a trip to Florence.
June 22, 2018
Ruskin es, con toda su candidez y su erudición, pura delicia.
May 6, 2026
In depth analysis of architectural paintings and sculptures in Florence
Very interesting but difficult to read as it is not accompanied by photographs as would a modern book, and so the reader ideally needs to either be very familiar with the works described, or independently find good close detail photos, which I found very difficult or impossible in most cases.
Ideally, I would want to take this book to Florence and investigate the works in person, as the author suggests, with a good pair of binoculars and about a week or more of mornings to spend in the effort. His notes on the current (as of 1873) restorations would be instrumental in trying to determine which bits are original, restored as he describes, or restored (possibly again or if noted poor restorations were repaired) subsequently.
Very interesting but difficult to read as it is not accompanied by photographs as would a modern book, and so the reader ideally needs to either be very familiar with the works described, or independently find good close detail photos, which I found very difficult or impossible in most cases.
Ideally, I would want to take this book to Florence and investigate the works in person, as the author suggests, with a good pair of binoculars and about a week or more of mornings to spend in the effort. His notes on the current (as of 1873) restorations would be instrumental in trying to determine which bits are original, restored as he describes, or restored (possibly again or if noted poor restorations were repaired) subsequently.
February 8, 2024
Изключително неприятен господин е Джон Ръскин. Във филма "Г-н Търнър" го бяха представили като заекващ сноб, когото Търнър презираше. Тогава ми се стори грубо и неоправдано, но след този суетен пътеводител, който зарязах малко след средата, мога да се съглася, че Майк Лий е бил близо до истината. Ако ми се бе случил злощастният късмет да обикалям Флоренция с господин Ръскин, щях да побързам да се отърва от присъствието му.
September 19, 2012
One of the greatest books on Italian Art ever. The most accessible work of a feisty genius of a victorian art critic and Oxford Don. This book teaches you how to approach a work of art. Ruskin put everything he had into the works he examined, which was not negligible.
June 23, 2015
Immeasurable insight from Ruskin. Best described as an unconventional guide to Florentine art and architecture, not without his insertions of critiques and lessons. It will make an invaluable (and enlightening) companion to the city.
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September 5, 2008Reading this book is like walking in Forence with John Ruskin, stopping to look carefully at various paintings and frescoes.
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June 28, 2016A delightful book of art and Florence
If you want to stroll through Florence in a book and "see" some of her lesser known works, this book is for you.
If you want to stroll through Florence in a book and "see" some of her lesser known works, this book is for you.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews