DrawingsBritish19th-20th century

Latin Inscription, after Ruskin

19th-20th century

Artists

Arthur MackmurdoArtist

John RuskinArtist after

Charles Herbert MoorePrevious attribution

Description

This is copied from a drawing by John Ruskin; see photocopy in curatorial file. The drawing is no. 9 in his Rudimentary Series of 1878 at Oxford, and is described as "Italian engraved writing of the Lombardic School." The inscription is carved into one of the foundation stones of the Duomo of Lucca, which dates to 1060. It translates as "Hoc opus cepit", or "[so-and-so] started this work" and would probably have been used for a work by more than one artisan.

Classification

Drawings

Medium

Brown ink and wash, white gouache over graphite on off-white wove paper

Culture

British

Century

19th-20th century

Division

European and American Art

Department

Department of Drawings

Dimensions

21.6 x 31.9 cm (8 1/2 x 12 9/16 in.) mount: 24.4 x 31.5 cm (9 5/8 x 12 3/8 in.) Graphite border drawn around image.: 8.8 x 19.9 cm (3 7/16 x 7 13/16 in.)

Provenance

Fine Arts Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; transferred to Fogg Art Museum, 1926.

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