The Elements of Drawing, John Ruskin’s teaching collection at Oxford

The Elements of Drawing, John Ruskin’s teaching collection at Oxford

Ruskin's Catalogue of Examples (1870)

Ruskin's first catalogue with notes containing his plans for the Standard, Reference and Educational series.

Examples cover

Ruskin's Catalogues: 1 object

Show search help

Search Help

Ruskin assembled a diverse collection of artworks for his drawing school in Oxford, including watercolours by J.M.W. Turner and drawings by Ruskin himself.  He taught students to draw as a way of educating them in how to look at art and the world around them.  

Ruskin divided his Teaching Collection into four main series: Standard, Reference, Educational and Rudimentary. Each item was placed in a numbered frame, arranged in a set of cabinets, so that they all had a specific position in the Collection (although Ruskin often moved items about as his ideas changed). 

When incorporated into the Ashmolean’s collection in the last century, the works were removed from the frames and the sequence was lost.  Here, Ruskin's original catalogues, notes and instructions - in his chosen order and in his own words - are united with images of the works and links to modern curatorial descriptions.

Ruskin's Catalogues

© University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum

Reference URL
?

Actions

Send e-mail

Contact us about this object

Send e-mail

Send to a friend

Print of the Decoration on a Greek Vase, showing Selene P. Bineteau

  • Ruskin text

    23 F.Selene, rising full. Le Normand, tom. ii. pl. 116.
  • Curator’s description:

    Description

    The lithograph shows Selene standing behind the two winged horses which draw her chariot. The moon's disc appears above her head, and stylised fruit-laden branches can be seen behind her; these may be the apple-trees of the Hesperides. It reproduces the decoration of a black-figure vase, copied after an illustration by the Comte Alexandre de Laborde. It was plate CXVI in the second volume of Lenormant and de Witte's "Elite des monuments céramographiques", published in 1857. It was presumably taken from Ruskin's copy of the work now preserved in the Ruskin Library (inventory no. 1996B2621), which is missing many of its plates.

    The print was catalogued by Ruskin in the "Catalogue of Examples" of 1870, as no. 23 F in the Educational Series, entitled "Selene, rising full", alongside other plates of Apollo and Selene from Lenormant and de Witte. However, it did not reappear in any of his subsequent catalogues.

    In his catalogue entry (actually appearing below no. 23 G), Ruskin said that he thought the figure might actually be Helios. He also wondered why the apples of the Hesperides had been included, as they seemed inconsistent with either Selene rising in the east; or the sunset, when Helios's horses should have been shown descending. He concluded that they simply expressed Selene's dominion over the night.

  • Details

    Artist/maker
    P. Bineteau (active c. 1857 - c. 1858) (printer)
    A. Rey (active c. 1844 - c. 1858) (lithographer)
    Object type
    print
    Material and technique
    watercolour and bodycolour over lithograph on wove paper
    Dimensions
    134 x 148 mm (stone); 252 x 332 mm (sheet)
    Inscription
    All printed, just outside the border of the image:
    top left: T.II.
    top right: PL. CXVI.
    bottom left: Lith. de Bineteau.
    bottom right: A. Rey, sc

    Recto, centre right, running down the page, in ink: 23 F.

    Verso:
    top left, in graphite: 116
    centre, the Ruskin School's stamp
    Provenance

    John Ruskin

    No. of items
    1
    Accession no.
    WA.RS.EXAMPLES.ED.023.f
  • Subject terms allocated by curators:

    Subjects

    ceramic

    horse (Equus caballus)

    man

    moon

    mythological subject

    night (concept)

    tree

    woman

  • References in which this object is cited include:

    References

    Ruskin, John, Catalogue of Examples Arranged for Elementary Study in the University Galleries (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1870), cat. Educational no. 23.F

    Lenormant, Charles, and Jean de Witte, Elite des monuments céramographiques: Matériaux pour l'histoire des religions et des moeurs de l'antiquité, 4 vols in 8 (Paris: Leleux, 1844-1861), vol. II, pl. CXVI

    Ruskin, John, ‘The Ruskin Art Collection at Oxford: Catalogues, Notes and Instructions’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 21

Location

    • Western Art Print Room

Ruskin's Catalogues

Arts and Humanities Research Council

University of Oxford

The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art

Ashmolean

© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum