Ruskin’s book on Venice has become an inseparable part of the unique city’s mystique. Part guidebook, part tribute to the beauty of the city, part essay on the virtue of Gothic architecture, part architectural manual, the book is a testament to the lost art of writing about art. The English aesthetician’s writing is imbued with his deep love for the city and flows like water through a Venetian canal. The prose is almost as beautiful as what it describes.