APPENDIX A NOTES ON THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN JOH RUSKIN AND ANGELO ALESSANDRI

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Page 13: [1] Deleted Notebook 11/07/2010 18:55

APPENDIX A

NOTES ON THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN JOH RUSKIN

AND ANGELO ALESSANDRI

I. The extant correspondence between Ruskin and Angelo Alessandri consists of fifty-five

letters from Ruskin to Alessandri and drafts of twenty-six letters plus one

final version of a letter from Alessandri to Ruskin. With one exception, all

these letters and drafts are in the possession of Alessandri’s daughter,

Signora Maria Pennati Alessandri, who has kindly allowed me to transcribe

and quote from them. The only surviving version of an Alessandri letter

(letter 77 in my list in Appendix B) is in the Rylands,

1

and I am grateful to

the Library for permission to quote from it.

2. Of Ruskin’s fifty-five letters, six were published in full or almost in full in the Library

Edition. while extracts. usually only a phrase or two. from nine others were

used in the General Catalogue of the Ruskin Museum as comments on

copies by Alessandri in the collection.

2

_{Transcripts of most of those}

published or quoted from. and of twelve other letters, are among the

transcripts Alexander Wedderburn gave to the Bodleian in 1936.

3

_{I do not}

always agree with the transcriptions, although it is only in a few cases that

the sense is altered. None of Alessandri’s letters has been published.

3. Alessandri obviously kept Ruskin’s letters carefully, and some time after the end of the

correspondence placed each letter in a simple paper cover on which he

noted the following kinds of information :

(i) Either one or two numbers :

(a) One series of numbers reflects the overall chronological order of Ruskin’s letters and

extends from 1 to 55 (there is some confusion in the numeration of a

few letters). In the case of thirty letters (which for convenience I call

“group A”) Alessandri used Arabic numerals, but with twenty-five

letters (“group B”) he used Roman numerals. Thus the overall

chronological sequence runs I, II, 3. 4. 5. 6, VII, VIII etc.

(b) In addition, “group B” has its own, self-contained numeration, which runs from l to 24

in Arabic numerals (there are twenty-five letters in this group but two

are numbered “24”).

(ii) The date of the letter. In “group A” Alessandri gives the dates in Italian. in “group B” in

English. Where Ruskin did not date a letter Alessandri always tried to

establish a rough date, and usually seems reliable. I have, therefore,

accepted his dating where necessary except in one instance: letter l in my

list below Alessandri thought was of “Febbraio o Marzo del 1878” - but

the letter was clear1y written while Ruskin was in Venice, which he was

not in 1878; the letter is c1early, then, of 1877, and I prefer February to

March (see above p. 408. and notes 2 and 6).

(iii) Occasionally Ruskin’s whereabouts at the time of writing. Usually Ruskin used headed

notepaper and this was not necessary, but in the few cases in which Ruskin

was writing in Venice Alessandri supplies the name of the hotel - the

Calcina in 1877, the Europa in 1888.

(iv) Alessandri’s own whereabouts at the time of receiving the letter.

(v) Comments on the contents of the letter. These are often useful in identifying a reference,

particularly to a painting or copy, and usually, though not always, seem

reliable. In “group A” these comments are in Italian, and in “group B” in

English.

(2)

annotated the letters to be sent to England in English and numbered them,

and annotated the rest in Italian, adding to each of the fifty-five letters a

number which would enable him to put the two groups back into their

overall chronological order when they returned.

4. Most of Alessandri’s drafts of letters to Ruskin are on loose sheets, but some are in a

notebook which also contains a few drafts of letters to other

corre-spondents, quite a lot of notes attacking the restoration of Venetian

buildings, translations of passages from Ruskin’s works, and some other

miscellaneous material. Alessandri made up to six drafts of a single letter,

some in Italian, some in English. I always quote from the latest English

draft where an English draft is available. Though Alessandri’s English, and

particularly his spelling, was uncertain, it is usually comprehensible, and I

have not correeted his mistakes in quoting from these drafts.

APPENDIX B

LIST OF LETTER5 COMPRISING THE CORRESPONDENCE

BETWEEN RUSKIN AND ALESSANDRI

I have not indicated the whereabouts of each letter in this list because all the letters are in the

possession of Signora Maria Pennati Alessandri of Treviso, Italy, with the

single exception of letter 77, which is in the Rylands.

All “letters” from Alessandri to Ruskin are only drafts, again with the single exception of letter

77. With letters from Ruskin, dates or parts of dates enclosed in square brackets are taken from

Alessandri’s notation of the letters except in one case (see above, Appendix

A, 3 (ii)). Alessandri did not date his drafts, but their logical positions in

relation to Ruskin’s letters, and therefore a rough date, can be worked out

from internal evidence - mainly references to commissions. These dates are

also enclosed in square brackets.

It should be noted that letters 10 and 62, though indicated as “published”, are in fact incomplete

as given in the Library Edition.

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5 ?

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The Prince of England and

St. Ursula T aking uave o/

her Father. King Marus

(Aeademy, Venice)

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Holy Trinityand

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(4)

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(5)

APPENDIXC

LIST OF STUDIES ANO SKETCHES BY ALESSANORI IN

ENGLANO

This list only includes sketehes and studies of whieh I have definite knowledge, and does not

c1aim to be complete. They are grouped according to their present

whereabouts, the larger collection coming fir t. Within each group they are

listed in chronological order of e ecution as far as is known, this often being

established by reference to the correspondence. Tbo e of which the date is

unknown are given at the end of eaeh group.

F

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!

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Subject

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4

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1

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7

7 Sketch of the Ponte dei Servi with Campanile of Sta.

Fosea[?]

C

o

l

e

c

t

i

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n

,

R

O

3

7

1

8

7

9 ?

Part of background to Carpaccio's The Pope's

Benediction (Aeademy, Venice)

9 R

e

a

d

i

n

g

R

1

6

7

3

1

8

7

9 Pencil drawing of the head of the saint in

Carpaccio's

3 ,

I

O

U

n

i

v

e

r

s

i

t

y

St. lerome Leading the Tame Lion

(S. Giorgio degli

Schiavoni, Venice)

R

2

4

0

1

8

7

9 Oil study of right hand upper corner of above

picture

R

4

9

3

1

8

7

9 Sketch of mosaic over centre door of St. Mark's

from

4 Gentile Bellini's

Procession o/ the Ho/y Cross

(Aeademy, Venice)

R

1

2

1

8

8 O

?

Study from Tintoretto's

Visitation

(Scuola di S.

Rocco, Venice)

1

6 -1

9 ,

5

7 R

1

5

1

8

0

Study of the Sto jerome group from Tintoretto's Paradise (Ducal Palace, Venice)

1

9 -2

3 ,

3

2 R

1

6

1

8

1 Seeondstudy of St. jerome group

2

3 -3

2 R

1

9

1

8

1 Study of St. Augustine and St. Monica from above

picture

2

1 .

2

2 ,

2

4 ,

2

7 R

5

0

5

1

8

1 Study from Pinturicchio's

Moses Stopped by the

Ange/

(Vatican, Rome)

2

8 ,

3

1 R

.

5

7

1

8

1 Pencil Study from Botticelli's Temptation of Christ

(Vatican Rome)

2

8 R

4

8

4

1

8

1 Sketch of the Forum in Rome

R

.

5

7

1

8

1 Pencil drawing of the heads of

3

2 ,

3

3 .

3

6 the graces in Botticelli's

Spring

R

I

2

4

1

8

1 Study of the left hand lower

3

7 quarter of Carpaccio's St.

lemme Leading the T ome

Lion

R

4

8

5

1

8

2 Sketch of south side of

4

4 Church of S. Nicola, Pisa

R

4

8

6

1

8

2 Detail of above

4

4 R

5

3

2

1

8

2 Detail of above

4

4 R

I

1

8

1

8

3 Study of Adam and Eve from

5

0 -5

6 Tintoretto's Paradise

R

I

2

0

1

8

3 Second study of above

5

6 ,

5

8 R

4

9

1

8

4 Study of part of fresco The

6

3 Fall o/ the Giants by

Bartolomeo di Cavalli

(Piazza Erbe. Verona)

R

6

1

8 Study of another part of above

6

(6)

Eve (Piazza Erbe. Verona)

R

6

0

8

1

8

5 Study of Tintoretto's St.

6

8 Sebastian (Scuola di S.

Rocco. Venice)

R

I

2

1

8

5 Study of Tintoretto's Flight

6

9 .

7

1 ,

7

2 into Egypt (Scuola di S.

Rocco, Venice)

R

1 l

4

1

8

5 Study of Tintoretto's St.

6

9 .

7

1 .

7

2 Mary o/ Egypt (Scuola di S.

Rocco. Venice)

R

I

1

3

1

8

9 Study from Tintoretto's

Anmmdation (Scuola di S.

Rocco, Venice)

R

I

2

3

1

8

9

1 Study of The Martyrdom o/

St. Stephen (S. Giorgio

Maggiore. Venice)

R

I

0

7

1

8

9

5 Study of Carpaccio' s

Presentation o/ Christ in the

Tempie (Aeademy, Venice)

R

1

3

1

8

9

2 Study of the head of the saint

in Carpaccio's The Dream o/

St. Ursula (Aeademy. Venice)

R

.

1

7

1

9

0

5 Study of top central section of

7

3 -7

6 Tintoretto's Paradise

R

u

s

k

i

n

8

1

8

3 Study of mosaic Ponti/ices

4

8 -5

0 G

a

l

e

r

i

e

s

,

Clerus Populus Dux Mente

B

e

m

b

r

i

d

g

e

.

Serenus (St. Mark's, Venice)

I

s

l

e

o

f

3

9

1

8

3 Study of David in Tintoretto's

5

2 W

i

g

h

t

Paradise

3

0

2 ?

Study of Madonna and Child

(Botticelli?)

8

2 ?

Street scene with arch

8

3 ?

Street scene with piazza,

columns and rnarket

1

9

8 ?

Study of angel's head after

Gozzoli

1

8

5 ?

Study of Bellini's T ruth with

her Mirror (Academy, Venice)

1

8

3 ?

Study of The Crowning o/ the

Virgin by Stefanio, parish

priest of Sta. Agnese, Venice

1

8

4 ?

Study of part of an altar-piece

by Jacobello del Fiore

Study of Carpaccio' s Solomon

and Sheba

C

o

n

i

s

t

o

n

?

Study from Tintoretto's

M

u

s

e

u

m

Bac:clws and Ariadne (Ducal

Palace, Venice)

?

Study from Tintoretto's

Mercury and the Graces

(Ducal Palace, Venice)

?

Study from Tintoretto' s St.

Mary o/ Egypt (Scuola di

S. Rocco, Venice)

?

Study of a detail from

Carpaccio's TUlO Venetian

Ladies on a Balcony (Museo

(7)

?

Study of a detail from

Carpaccio's Arrivalo/ the

Ambassadors (Academy,

Venice)

B

r

a

n

t

w

o

d

7

0

1

8

0 Canal scene with fishing boats

7

0

1

8

2 Canal scene with bridge and

palace

7

0

2

1

9

0

3 Interior of Sto Mark's

6

3

1

6 -1

9 ,

5

7

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