Seven Lamps of Architecture

 

 

By J. Ruskin. Distributor: Lulu. $19.99. 316 pages. Paperback CQ. 2016 (1907).

 

We may live without her {architecture}, and worship without her, but we cannot remember without her. Ruskin.

 

John Ruskin was an English art and architecture critic who bolstered Gothic architecture and eschewed the design principles that developed during the Renaissance. His writings combine enormous sensitivity and human compassion with a burning zeal for moral value. In this essay, he introduces the seven 'lamps', or principles, of architecture, which are tied to seven moral attributes Ruskin believed to be inseparable from design. These seven lamps are Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory, and Obedience. These are the foundations for building with integrity.

It may benefit to approach his work alongside that of W. Lethaby and of A. Coomaraswamy. Lethaby looks at the influence of mysticism and nature while Ruskin sees art as an expression of the values of a society. Both provide tools for the Craftsman to broaden the investigation of the esoteric concepts associated with Architecture and Building, Art and Masonry.

As an aside, the attentive observation of the design of the book suggests itself being a mastership of architecture.

 

Contents

  • Note to this edition
  • Note
  • Preface to the edition of 1880
  • Preface to the first edition
  • Introductory
  • Chapter I. The Lamp of Sacrifice
  • Chapter II. The Lamp of Truth
  • Chapter III. The Lamp of Power
  • Chapter IV. The Lamp of Beauty
  • Chapter V. The Lamp of Life
  • Chapter VI. The Lamp of Memory
  • Chapter VII. The Lamp of Obedience
  • Appendixes
    • Appendix I
    • Appendix II
    • Appendix III
    • Appendix IV
    • Appendix V
  • Index
  • Bibliography

List of illustrations

  • Plate I. Ornaments from Rouen, St. Lo, and Venice.
  • Plate II. Part of the Cathedral of St. Lo, Normandy
  • Plate III. Traceries from Caen, Bayeux, Rouen, and Beauvais.
  • Plate IV. Intersectional Mouldings.
  • Plate V. Capital from the Lower Arcade of the Doge’s Palace, Venice.
  • Plate VI. Arch from the Façade of the Church of San Michele at Lucca
  • Plate VII. Pierced Ornaments from Lisieux, Bayeux, Verona, and Padua.
  • Plate VIII. Window from the Ca’ Foscari, Venice.
  • Plate IX. Traceries from the Campanile of Giotto, at Florence (Tittle Page).
  • Plate X. Traceries and Mouldings from Rouen and Salisbury.
  • Plate XI. Balcony in the Campo St. Benedetto, Venice.
  • Plate XII. Fragments from Abbeville, Lucca, Venice, and Pisa.
  • Plate XIII. Portions of an Arcade on the South Side of the Cathedral of Ferrara.
  • Plate XIV. Sculptures from the Cathedral of Rouen