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

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

Ruskin's Standard & Reference series (1872)

Exemplary works of art. In the catalogue of the Reference series, items marked 'M' are drawings "by my own Hand" (by Ruskin), P are photographs, E engravings and A by Ruskin's Assistant, Arthur Burgess.

Standard & Reference Cover

Ruskin's Catalogues: 1 object

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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

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Photograph of Titian's "Portrait of Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg" anonymous Spanish

  • Ruskin text

    47. Charles V. on Horseback. (Titian.)
  • Curator’s description:

    Description

    The painting depicts the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V astride a rearing horse, waering armour and holding a long spear.

    Cook & Wedderburn (XXI.27 n. 4) note that this is a 'Photograph of the portrait of "Charles V. at Mühlberg" in the Madrid Gallery.' - i.e. Titian's equestrian portrait of the Holy Roman Emperor at the Battle of Mühlberg, now in the Prado. The picture was painted whilst Titian was in Augsburg in 1548.

    The photograph was first listed in the Teaching Collection in 1870, when it was included in the "Catalogue of Examples" as no. 47 in the Reference Series, a position it retained in the 1872 catalogue of the series. The photograph formed part of a sequence of pictures by painters - all portrait-painters - who applied paint broadly, using the edges of the painted areas to denote outlines, rather than drawing them in with the point of the brush (Catalogue of Examples, p. 19).

  • Details

    Artist/maker
    anonymous Spanish (photographer)
    after Titian (c. 1485/90 - 1576)
    Object type
    photograph
    Material and technique
    albumen print
    Dimensions
    367 x 304 mm
    Inscription
    On the photograph, top left corner, a blind stamp, the text arranged in an oval within a border of dots and separated at the bottom by a star, within the text a monogram, apparently including an 'M' on its side: CUADROS DEL R.L MUSEO

    On the mount, front, bottom left corner, in graphite: 4

    On the mount, back:
    top left: St 47
    just below centre, the Ruskin School's stamp
    Provenance

    Presented by John Ruskin to the Ruskin Drawing School (University of Oxford), 1875; transferred from the Ruskin Drawing School to the Ashmolean Museum, c.1949.

    No. of items
    1
    Accession no.
    WA.RS.STD.047
  • Subject terms allocated by curators:

    Subjects

    animal

    armour

    horse (Equus caballus)

    man

    painting

    soldier

    spear

  • 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. Standard no. 47

    Ruskin, John, Catalogue of the Reference Series Including Temporarily the First Section of the Standard Series (London: Smith, Elder, [1872]), cat. Standard no. 47

    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, cat. Standard no. 47

Location

    • Western Art Print Room

Position in Ruskin’s Collection

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