Ruskin’s Rose: A Venetian Love Story

Venice can be a dangerous place for a man’s emotions–particularly at Christmas, particularly if he’s the grief-stricken art historian John Ruskin. In 1876, a year after the death of his clandestine love, Rose La Touche, Ruskin arrived in the city of canals and arched bridges. The author of such acclaimed books as Modern Painters and The Stones of Venice, Ruskin suddenly found himself adrift without his Rose. He’d seen his own youthful marriage scandalously annulled; he had lost his faith, his love, his fortune. It was time to heal. Ruskin’s Rose tells the unforgettable story of Ruskin’s relationship and of his time in Venice, when he rediscovered art through the paintings of fifteenth-century artist Vittore Carpaccio. Gorgeously illustrated with photographs of letters, maps, flowers, lockets, and other artifacts, this tale will stir the heart of every reader.