This landmark text on art criticism originates from the author's indignation at the shallow and false criticism of his era, particularly regarding the works of Turner. What began as a short pamphlet expanded into a comprehensive treatise on art, aiming to declare and demonstrate the essence of the Beautiful and the True.
The author begins by defining the classes of ideas conveyable by art: ideas of power, imitation, truth, beauty, and relation. He argues that ideas of imitation are the most contemptible, relying on mere trickery and deception, whereas ideas of truth are the true foundation of all great art. He establishes that the truth of nature is not easily discerned by uneducated senses, requiring close observation and deep moral and intellectual development.
A central argument is the relative importance of truths. Ruskin contends that particular and characteristic truths are more important than general ones, rare truths more valuable than frequent ones, and truths of form vastly superior to truths of color. He heavily criticizes the landscape painters of the seventeenth century, including Claude, Salvator Rosa, and Gaspar Poussin, accusing them of painting false, conventional, and monotonous transcripts of nature for the sake of deception rather than love.
In contrast, the author elevates modern landscape painters, and Turner in particular, as true historians of nature who record its facts with earnestness and scientific accuracy. He analyzes the structures of clouds, mountains, and water, demonstrating how nature's infinite variety and specific character must be rendered without alteration or modification.
The book concludes by examining the moral function of art, asserting that landscape painting should be a witness to the omnipotence of God rather than an exhibition of human dexterity. The artist is burdened with the responsibility of a preacher, tasked with guiding the human mind to the pure and holy contemplation of creation.
