The Valley of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

John Ruskin

ca. 1866 · Watercolor, gouache (bodycolor), pen and brown ink, over graphite · Drawings and Prints

When the celebrated Victorian critic and amateur painter Ruskin first saw the Alps in 1833, he responded to them as sublime records of divine creation and scientifically relevant geologic formations. A later journey produced this image, in which sunlit trees at left contrast with steep, shaded rows of pines at right. Ethereal blue washes form a haze that envelops distant peaks, while nearby slopes are articulated using dry brushwork over fluid passages of wash, with ink applied to describe trees and tiny buildings. Ruskin may have sought this vantage point from Unspunnen Castle in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, near Interlaken, because of Lord Byron’s well-known poem "Manfred," which mentions the site. This watercolor came to the Museum from trustee George Dupont Pratt.

Artist

John Ruskin

Date

ca. 1866

Medium

Watercolor, gouache (bodycolor), pen and brown ink, over graphite

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Bequest of George D. Pratt, 1935