What is it about?
This book brings together a collection of essays by leading experts in art history and theology who bring Ruskin’s spiritual vision into focus for modern eyes, primarily through the art of the Pre-Raphaelites and their wider circle. Among them, Revd Dr Alison Milbank explores the natural theology in Ruskin’s own drawings and paintings of leaves, while Dr Katherine Hinzman draws out the Protestant and Catholic imaginations of Holman Hunt and Edward Burne-Jones in paintings of Christ. Other media, including Ruskin’s daguerreotypes, wood engraving in the Dalziels’ Bible Gallery (1881), and gesso ceiling panels by Mary Watts, are shown to be alive with Ruskin’s visual theology (by Madeleine Emerald Thiele, Madeline Hewitson and Lucy Ella Rose respectively).
Featured Image
Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash
Why is it important?
These are animated and animating conversations about art works which glow. The full colour illustrations are part of a dialogue where exchanges about art and religion have a present-day dimension, inviting contemplation and transformation. More than that, this book is about faith and aesthetics as a living and resonant conversation, not just history.
Perspectives
My second editing adventure with Madeleine Emerald Thiele, the book emerged from a conference held at Marlborough College in 2019, during the bicentenary of Ruskin's birth. We've dedicated the volume to the late George P. Landow, who was so enthusiastic for a publication from this event (at which he gave the keynote lecture) and an inspiration to so many who are admirers of Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites.
Dr Sheona Beaumont
King's College London
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: John Ruskin, the Pre-Raphaelites, and Religious Imagination, January 2023, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-21554-4.
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