Resumen de L'architettura di superficie: Venezia e la Toscana
Early on in the work of John Ruskin, both Venetian and Tuscan architecture receive attention within the framework of his original theories on the contrast between the "chromatic" architecture of the South and the "structural" architecture of the North. By 1850 Ruskin's primary focus is on Venice as a unique meeting point of the Byzantine and Gothic traditions; and he is as concerned with social and cultural history as he is with art. Only after 1870 does he turn to Tuscany as the historical modelfor his new thinking on the direction of society, augmented by classical subjects connected with sculpture, Greek civilization, and mythology.
