WorkRuskin noted of this work that it was 'entirely admirable as a picture -- and as a copy' (
Works, 30, p. 192).
ArtistCharles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919) made almost 40 copies of Italian masterpieces for the Guild of St George. He was a well-known figure in the late Victorian art world.
He began his artistic career by drawing diagrams in a railway engineer's office. In 1866 he became an assistant to Edward Burne-Jones before becoming a designer and painter for the William Morris firm. Ruskin provided Murray with further artistic education and in 1873 sent him to Italy to copy works by Botticelli. After starting a family in Florence, Murray worked in Italy until 1886 when he returned to work in London.
In his 'Master's Report: 1884', Ruskin identifies Murray as the 'most skilful' of the artists employed in the task of copying endangered Italian buildings and art. He notes that 'the sketches we possess by his hand, from Carpaccio and Botticelli, are among the principal treasures we can boast at Oxford and Walkley' (
Works, 30, p. 72).
Despite his skill as a draughtsman, Murray was by the end of his life more famous as an art collector and dealer.
Ruskin on BotticelliBotticelli's modern reputation can be traced to Walter Pater's appreciative treatment in
The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry (1873). Ruskin's admiration for Botticelli also helped to revive interest. He considered him an artist of 'stupendous power' (
Works, 37, p. 138).
Ruskin later reflected 'with pride [...] that it was left to me, and to me alone, first to discern, and then to teach [...] the excellency and supremacy of five great painters, despised until I spoke of them, -- Turner, Tintoret, Luini, Botticelli, and Carpaccio.' (
Works, 4, p. 355). In
Ariadne Florentina (1872), Ruskin gave extensive attention to Botticelli in the separate areas of wood and metal engraving.