The Heartlessness of the Picturesque: Sympathy and Disgust in Ruskin's Aesthetics

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Please cite as, John Macarthur, “The Heartlessness of the Picturesque: Sympathy and Disgust in Ruskin’s

Aesthetics”, Assemblage: A Critical Journal of Architecture and Design Culture, 32, pp127 - 141, 1997.

Professor John Macarthur

Professor School of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, University of Queensland

The Heartlessness of the Picturesque:

Sympathy and Disgust in Ruskin’s Aesthetics

! 126!

!!!!!!

! 127!

1.#John#Ruskin,#End$of$Market,$St.$Croydon#

John%Macarthur%The#Heartlessness#of#the#Picturesque:#

Sympathy#and#Disgust#in#Ruskin's#

Aesthetics##

For,#in#a#certain#sense,#the#lower#picturesque#ideal#is#an#eminently#heartless#one;#the#lover#of#it#seems#to#go#forth#into#the#world#in#a#temper#as#merciless#as#its#rocks.#All#other#men#feel#

some#regret#at#the#sight#of#disorder#and#ruin.#He#alone#delights#in#both;#it#matters#not#of#

what.#Fallen#cottage#H#desolate#villa#H#deserted#village#H#blasted#heath#H#mouldering#castle#H#to#

him,#so#that#they#do#but#show#jagged#angles#of#stone#and#timber,#all#are#equally#joyful.#

Poverty,#and#darkness,#and#guilt,#bring#their#several#contributions#to#his#treasury#of#pleasant#

thoughts.#The#shattered#window,#opening#into#black#and#ghastly#rents#of#wall,#the#foul#rag#or#

straw#wisp#stopping#them,#the#dangerous#roof,#decrepit#floor#and#stair,#ragged#misery#or#

wasting#age#of#the#inhabitants,#H#all#these#conduce,#each#in#due#measure,#to#the#fullness#of#

his#satisfaction.#What#is#it#to#him#that#the#old#man#has#passed#away#his#seventy#years#in#

helpless#darkness#and#untaught#waste#of#soul?#The#old#man#has#at#last#accomplished#his#

destiny#and#filled#the#comer#of#a#sketch,#where#something#unsightly#was#wanting.#What#is#it#

to#him#that#the#people#fester#in#that#feverish#misery#in#the#lower#quarter#of#the#town,#by#the#

river?#Nay#it#is#much#to#him.#What#else#were#they#made#for?#what#could#they#have#done#

better?#

#

John#Ruskin,#"Of#the#Turnerian#Picturesque,"#in#Modem$Painters,#vol.#4#(6:#19H20)1##

John#Ruskin's#disgust#at#the#picturesque#is#palpable#and#exemplary#in#passages#such#as#this.#

For#him,#the#inhabitants#of#the#picturesque#scene#are#unconscious#of#their#"untaught#waste#

of#soul."#But#for#such#distress#to#go#unnoticed#by#the#heartless#aesthete#in#a#search#for#tone#

and#shadow#is#another##

! 128!

#

and#parallel#kind#of#waste:#the#affliction#of#art#with#a#cankerous#failure#of#sympathy.#Yet#the#

movement#of#the#passage,#from#its#propositional#forms#to#the#description#of#a#scene,#

particular#and#exemplary,#is#like#that#supposed#in#the#term#"picturesque."#We#say#a#thing#is#

"like#a#picture"#not#in#order#to#use#it#as#such,#but#to#walk#in#or#out#of#it,#interchanging,#back#

and#forward,#the#flatness#of#possession#with#lived#experience#or#theoretical#insight.#

#

We#might#think,#and#rightly,#that#this#passage#is#confessional,#describing#feelings#that#Ruskin#

knows#well.#Read#in#isolation,#the#passage#might#seem#a#renunciation.#In#fact,#it#is#an#overly#

affecting#call#for#a#quite#subtle#modification#of#the#picturesque#that#Ruskin#is#proposing.#For#

him,#the#picturesque#is#a#starting#point,#one#that#it#is#unclear#he#ever#surpasses.#It#is#the#

received#aesthetic#of#his#age,#which#he#believes#can#be#given#a#cause#and#origin#(lack#of#

sympathy)#and#then#surpassed#into#a#more#complete#aesthetic#project#for#which#the#

picturesque#had#given#us#a#taste.#The#picturesque#is#"heartless";#nevertheless,#it#can#lead#us#

to#nobility.#Indeed,#the#movement#that#occurs#here#in#Ruskin's#commentary#is#little#more#

than#an#iteration#of#the#structure#of#the#picturesque#idea;#we#give#up#the#picture#for#the#

ability#to#split#viewing#into#concept#and#affect.#Ruskin's#iteration#is#significant,#however,#not#

only#in#the#history#of#the#propagation#of#the#concept#of#the#picturesque,#but#in#its#

conceptual#structure.#It#is#on#the#basis#of#Ruskin's#uptake#that#the#picturesque#reiterates#in#

modern#perceptualist#culture.#Ruskin#writes#of#the#picturesque#as#if#it#were#a#natural#

propensity#to#taste#that#requires#the#development#of#an#aesthetic#theory#to#discipline#and#

instruct#it.#Rather#more#obscurely,#he#deals#with#the#picturesque#as#a#preexisting#theoretical#

problem#of#genre,#disinterest,#and#affected#disgust.#In#moving#between#these#two#

constructions#of#the#picturesque,#Ruskin#invents#for#it#a#temporal#mechanism#by#which#the#

picturesque#can#be#both#a#present#lack#and#a#historical#origin.#

#

#

Disinterest#

#

Ruskin's#proposal#to#cure#the#picturesque#with#sympathy#might#seem#to#be#in#opposition#to#

eighteenthHcentury#concepts#of#aesthetical#disinterest.#The#invention#of#modem#aesthetics#is#

synonymous#with#the#concept#of#disinterestedness.#In#the#eighteenth#century#the#problem#

of#aesthetic#theory#had#been#how#to#articulate#the#relation#of#things#of#value#and#the#

exercise#of#taste.#Ruskin#points#out#that#aestheticism#creates#an#opposite#problem#of#the#

relation#of#taste#to#the#ugly,#the#distorted,#and#the#pathological.#This#relation#had#already#

been#problematized#in#the#first#period#of#the#picturesque#around#the#general#question#of#

how#to#conceptualize#a#high#taste#for#low#objects.#In#the#theory#of#Uvedale#Price#this#

gradient#of#taste#is#merely#a#tactical#moment#in#evincing#knowledge#of#the#hierarchy#of#

genre.2#We#exercise#our#taste#on#Dutch#paintings#of#peasants#in#cottages#only#to#express#the#

liberality#of#our#appreciation#of#the#landscapes#of#Claude#Lorrain;#similarly,#our#love#for#the#

ordinary#agricultural#countryside#of#Britain#does#not#signify#an#inability#to#appropriate#the#

Alps#or#the#Bay#of#Naples.#Price's#interest#in#the#picturesque,#which#is#to#say,#in#the#ordinary,#

in#the#ugly#and#deformed,#is#supposed#to#be#an#exploration#of#the#range#of#taste,#so#as#to#

better#understand#and#agree#on#a#common#standard#of#propriety#in#taste.#But#Price#was#

unable#to#persuade#his#critics#that#his#proposal#of#the#value#of#low#objects#in#evincing#

disinterest#was#not,#in#the#end,#a#perverse#interest#in#disgust.#After#all,#Price#assumes#a#

special#value#for#the#ugly#and#deformed,#which#is#that#they#can#improve#in#our#appropriation#

of#them#while#the#beautiful#is#indifferent#to#us.#Ruskin's#image#of#the#perversity#of#

picturesque#practice#is,#then,#the#repetition#of#a#critique#from#the#turn#of#the#century,#which#

he#must#have#been#familiar#with#through#his#reading#of#Humphry#Repton.#But,#in#general,#

the#exaggeration#and#critique#of#Price's#position#by#Repton,#J.#C.#Loudon,#William#

! 129!

#

Marshall,#and#others#is#directed#at#Price's#taste#and#his#variance#from#propriety.3#He#had#

made#himself#ridiculous#with#his#appetite#for#views#of#higglers,#and#by#imagining#banditti#on#his#lawn,#and#no#one#would#have#thought#to#be#concerned#with#the#effect#of#Price's#

aesthetics#on#the#subjects#of#his#view.#This#is#the#force#of#Ruskin's#passage,#which#imbues#the#

foolishness#of#aesthetic#distancing#with#a#sense#of#injustice#and#moves#the#social#and#

political#context#of#taste#from#outside#(the#choice#of#objects#proper#for#gentlemen#to#judge)#

to#inside#(the#subject/object#relation).#Ruskin's#passage#asks#us#to#briefly#imagine#what#

should#be#impossible#and#must#be#avoided:#that#crippled#laborers#and#tubercular#children#

might#ask#us#why#we#look#at#them#"like#that."#

#

As#I#will#argue#in#this#paper,#much#of#the#mechanism#of#aesthetical#disgust#continues#in#

Ruskin#in#relation#to#the#picturesque,#except#that#Ruskin's#disgust#is#largely#directed#at#the#

picturesque#rather#than#through#it.#But#before#looking#in#detail#at#the#chapter#on#the#

picturesque#in#volume#four#of#Modern$Painters,#l#want#to#examine#three#relations#between#

Ruskinian#and#eighteenthHcentury#theory#that#all#have#to#do#with#articulations#of#genre#

hierarchy#and#disinterest.#The#first#deals#with#the#hierarchy#of#nobility#in#art#itself#and#

Ruskin's#response#to#Joshua#Reynolds.#The#second#concerns#the#use#of#disinterestedness.#

The#last#addresses#picturesqueness#as#a#description#of#how#the#British#are#affected#by#

foreign#filth#and#melancholy.##

#

Like#Reynolds,#Ruskin#distinguishes#between#base#pleasure#and#noble#truth#as#contending#

reasons#for#our#use#of#art.#Reynolds#thinks#that#only#the#lower#genres#aim#at#pleasing#while#

all#high#art#requires#the#development#of#cultivated#society#and#conceptualization.#If#we#were#

to#imagine#some#persons#innocent#of#painting#of#great#art#(those#"from#the#banks#of#the#

Ohio#or#from#New#Holland"),#according#to#Reynolds,#they#would#neither#comprehend#artistic#

truths#nor#take#pleasure.4#He#offers#a#very#simplistic#hierarchy#of#genre#based#on#the#

distance#that#can#be#achieved#from#the#exact#imitation#of#nature#and#the#particularity#of#

things.5#The#higher#genres#do#not#call#on#our#appetites#and#desires,#do#not#put#us#in#a#

relationship#with#objects.#Rather,#moral#judgments#are#called#on#to#be#exercised#over#

general#ideas#in#the#realm#of#civil#life.#Price#argues#against#Reynolds#that#the#picturesque#was#

a#kind#or#generic#transcoding;#like,#he#says,#the#plays#of#Shakespeare#in#which#are#embedded#

rustic#and#comic#scenes#and#subplots#that#provide#a#reflection#on#the#great#themes#of#the#

play.#He#nevertheless#follows#Reynolds#on#the#issue#of#detail;#finding#that#the#better#genre#

painters#are#those#who#are#not#obsessed#with#mechanical#imitation#and#who#express#a#

knowledge#of#their#subject#as#genre.#Few#records#exist#of#Ruskin's#Oxford#lectures#of#1875#on#

Reynolds's#Discourses,#but#the#notes#that#survive#show#a#vehement#continuity#of#the#idea#of#

a#nobility#of#taste#and#a#hierarchy#of#painting#(22:#493H507).#Ruskin's#main#disagreement#

with#Reynolds#is#over#his#denigration#of#detail:#Ruskin#thinks#that#the#truth#lies#in#practiced#

observation#and#claims#that#Reynolds#would#have#agreed#with#him#had#he#known#the#early#

Florentines#rather#than#the#mean#vanity#of#the#Dutch#in#painting#"the#spicula#of#haystacks#

and#the#hairs#of#donkeys"#(22:#494).#A#further#definition#of#the#Ruskinian#picturesque,#then,#

would#be#a#picturesque#liberated#from#its#earlier#generic#positioning,#one#that#rescues#

detailed#observation#from#the#odium#of#technique,#and#that#adds#questions#concerning#the#

truth#or#imitation#that#are#at#the#heart#of#the#Western#tradition.#

#

The#second#point#about#Ruskin's#relations#with#eighteenth#century#aesthetics#addresses#the#

function#of#disinterestedness.#Low#subjects#and#disgust#are#included#in#Price's#system#of#

taste#to#evince#disinterestedness#as#an#attribute#of#a#noble#observer.#Price#is#anxious#to#

appear#disinterested#at#the#level#of#taste#in#the#rural#affairs#for#which#he#is#politically#

responsible.#

! 130!

#

The#scenic#improvements#to#a#gentleman's#estate#must#not#seem#to#be#in#any#way#

determined#by,#or#even#understood#in#relation#to,#agricultural#improvements#for#fear#of#

besmirching#their#liberality.#The#picturesque#of#the#period#around#1800#(at#the#height#of#

what#E.#P.#Thompson#calls#the#English#Counterrevolution)#is#an#ideology#of#nobility#in#which#

good#taste,#considered#an#autonomous#realm#of#judgment,#authorized#social#and#political#

franchise.6#The#history#of#the#concept#of#disinterest#in#English#aesthetics#is#more#complex#

than#strictures#against#sensual#pleasure.#Its#relation#with#"interest"#is#not#one#of#simple#

opposition#but#of#articulation#between#spheres#of#attention#and#concern.7#It#was#thought#

that#the#disinterestedness#necessary#for#members#of#parliament#to#vote#in#the#national#

interest#could#be#guaranteed#by#hereditary#landholding.#By#contrast,#a#merchant#might#see#

each#decision#on#taxes,#war,#or#the#poor#laws#as#effecting#changes#in#the#price#of#tradable#

commodities.#For#eighteenthHcentury#thinkers#such#as#Reynolds#and#Price,#the#formation#of#

standards#of#proper#taste#within#an#aristocratic#society#was#analogous,#interest#in#land#

guaranteeing#disinterested#judgment#in#both#spheres,#and#the#parallel#between#them#

naturalizing#each.8#While#Ruskin#condemns#the#picturesque#for#its#failure#of#sympathy#and#

affect,#this#is#not#a#critique#of#the#concept#of#aesthetical#disinterestedness#so#much#as#an#

inversion#of#the#eighteenthHcentury#positions#of#the#interest/disinterest#pair.#Ruskin's#

franchise#as#a#disinterested#art#critic#and#theorist#can#be#guaranteed#in#an#authentic#human#

interest#in#the#objects#of#the#picture,#a#preparedness#to#reject#this#particular#picture#in#

sympathy#for#the#starving#laborers#it#depicts;#that#is,#in#an#awareness#of#the#intersection#of#

art#and#polity.#This#awareness#is#not#yet#(in#this,#the#earlier#half#of#Ruskin's#career)#the#

broader#project#finding#an#integrated#relation#of#art#and#political#economy,#but#rather#

concerns#how#art#itself#should#be#governed.#In#the#eighteenth#century,#the#concept#of#

disinterest#and#aesthetics#in#general#had#functioned#as#an#ideology#of#taste,#an#aristocratic#

taste#for#artwork#that#were#still#largely#emblematic#of#the#wealth#to#acquire#them.#By#the#

midHnineteenth#century,#art,#and#particularly#architecture,#had#become#thoroughly#

ideological#in#the#construal#of#national,#class,#and#religious#interests.#Ruskin#is#participating#

in#that#process#by#which#aesthetics#then#becomes#the#general#realm#of#both#the#

appropriation#and#production#of#art;#he#invents#the#role#of#the#bourgeois#critic#as#a#position#

privileged#by#his#interest#in#art#itself,#an#interest#guaranteed#by#a#disinterest#in#the#art#

market#or#the#political#valence#of#particular#artworks#{18:433H58).9#

#

The#last,#and#somewhat#slighter,#point#about#disinterestedness#concerns#the#Englishness#of#

the#picturesque.#In#its#rhetorical#finality,#we#might#think#that#the#argument#of#the#

"heartlessness#of#the#picturesque"#passage#from#Modem$Painters#would#lead#on#to#a#discussion#of#rural#housing#reform#in#England,#an#issue#with#which#picturesque#aesthetics#is#

intimately#bound#up#and#with#which#is#it#identified.10#But#Ruskin#is#not#asking#us#to#drop#

pencils#to#legislate#or#to#repair#thatch#in#response#to#his#description.#We#know#this#because#a#

footnote#to#the#passage#tells#us#that#it#is#based#on#an#observation#in#Amiens,#which#is#to#say,#

beyond#the#responsibilities#of#Ruskin's#English#readers.#Descriptions#of#the#ragged#misery#of#

cottagers#are#the#staple#of#picturesque#culture,#whether#in#Goldsmith#or#Gainsborough,#

whether#depicted#as#diverting#visual#character#or#as#a#cry#for#reform#or#both.#In#any#case,#the#

program#of#the#picturesque#in#the#eighteenth#century#is#an#aesthetic#of#the#ordinary#and#

familiar,#of#England.#It#is#curious#and#significant,#then,#that#Ruskin#does#not#find#England#

picturesque.#One#of#Ruskin's#most#marked#developments#of#the#picturesque#is#to#see#it#as#an#

issue#of#foreign#affairs.#Ruskin#'s#first#published#work,#"The#Poetry#of#Architecture,"#begins#

with#a#contrast#of#English#and#French#cottages#in#which#the#English#one#is#too#prim#and#

comfortable#to#please#the#eye#of#taste,#as#it#answers#to#"a#sentiment#of#mere#complacency"#

(1:#17).#The#French#cottage#can#please#us#because#of#an#"impression#of#

#

#

! 131!

having#once#been#fit#for#prouder#inhabitants#....#Every#mark#of#dilapidation#increases#this#

feeling:#while#these#very#marks#...#are#all#delightful#in#themselves."#Ruskin#has#transferred#all#

that#had#been#familiarly#said#of#English#cottages#to#a#more#extreme,#foreign#picturesque.#The#

work#is#all#the#stranger#for#its#publication#by#Loudon#in#his#Architectural$Magazine#in#1837#and#1838.#Loudon#had#in#1833#published#his#own#Encyclopedia$of$Cottage$Architecture,#which#was#firmly#addressed#as#a#remedy#to#the#degraded#misery#of#British#cottagers.#In#

describing#Italian#"cottages,"#Ruskin#describes#aesthetic#objects#in#words#that#in#England#

would#soon#belong#only#to#the#discourse#of#the#sanitary#commissioners:#"the#filthy#habits#of#

the#Italian#prevent#him#from#suffering#from#the#state#to#which#he#is#reduced.#The#shattered#

roofs,#the#dark,#confused,#ragged#windows,#the#obscure#chambers,#the#tattered#and#dirty#

draperies,#altogether#present#a#picture#which,#seen#too#near,#is#sometimes#revolting#to#the#

eye,#always#melancholy#to#the#mind"#(l:#28).#This#nationalistic#displacement#of#picturesque#

objectification#is#not#overcome#in#Ruskin's#later#works.11##

#

ln#“Of#Mountain#Gloom,"#in#volume#five#of#Modem$Painters.#Ruskin#discusses#the#artistic#appropriation#of#poverty#under#sentiments#of#gloominess#and#horror.#He#is#appalled#that#

popular#operas#nightly#present#impoverished#Alpine#peasants,#without#the#audiences#even#

connecting#this#literary#topos#with#an#actual#human#situation.#But#this#is#a#simple#enough#

problem#where#artistic#truth#converges#with#moral#truth,#and#Ruskin#can#simply#damn#

together#the#lack#of#sympathy#and#the#foolishness#of#starving#peasants#coopted#as#the#rosy#

subjects#of#the#pastoral.#At#this#same#point#in#the#description,#however,#Ruskin#opens#a#

much#more#problematic#set#of#issues#that#he#cannot#resolve:#the#question#of#the#grotesque#

in#art,#the#aesthetic#of#horror,#and#an#art#that#has#much#more#to#do#with#affect#than#with#

truth.#We#might#wonder#how#this#differs#from#the#picturesque#in#his#condemnation#of#it.#Yet#

it#is#important#to#Ruskin#to#make#a#distinction#here#because,#as#we#shall#see,#his#is#an#

immanent#critique#of#the#picturesque#intended#to#redeem#it.#Grotesque#art#and#the#"lower#

picturesque"#is#given#a#foreign#site,#in#melancholic#Italy#and#benighted#Savoy.#These#

aesthetic#problems#of#foreign#location#are#caused#by#dank#air,#Catholicism,#and#a#habitual#

use#of#bad#art#(6:#405).#But#Ruskin#thinks#that#neither#poverty#nor#cultural#ignorance#would#

have#the#same#affects#in#Britain.#The#"absolute#joy#in#ugliness"#and#"imbecile#revelling#in#

terror"#of#foreign#peasants#is#"independent#of#mere#poverty#or#indolence,"#as#we#see#by#

contrast#with#"Irish#recklessness#and#humour"#and#"the#well#conducted#English#cottager"#(6:#

399,#396,#389).#With#an#artless#shift#in#logic,#it#is#only#on#the#Continent#that#art#must#face#the#

choice#to#disguise#or#to#enjoy#oppression.#

#

#

Picturesqueness#and#Sympathy#

#

Ruskin's#discussion#of#the#picturesque#forms#part#of#an#argument#to#the#superiority#of#the#

work#of#J.#M.#W.#Turner#over#popular#taste#for#picturesque#views.#In#the#chapter#"Of#the#

Turnerian#Picturesque,"#Ruskin#opposes#the#"lower#picturesque,"#with#which#we#have#thus#

far#dealt,#with#a#Turnerian#noble#picturesque#(6:#9H26).#The#difference#is#authorial#sympathy:#

Turner's#sympathy#with#his#subjects#leads#him#to#a#noble#representation#of#them#even#when#

they#are#mean.#At#stake#here#are#several#aspects#of#the#reiteration#of#the#picturesque.#Like#

Price,#Ruskin#uses#examples#of#the#high#taste#for#low#objects#as#an#entree#to#the#question#of#

nobility#and#truth#in#representation.#The#picturesque#is#always#a#beginning#and#never#an#end.#

For#each#author,#it#is#genre#hierarchy#that#is#important#and#Reynolds#who#is#both#authority#

and#target.#Price's#claims#for#the#superiority#of#Rembrandt#over#van#Ostade#are#exactly#the#

same#as#Ruskin's#claims#for#Turner:#both#artists#have#chosen#to#paint#lower#genres#from#the#

height#of#their#success#with#history#painting.#For#Price,#this#occurs#in#Rembrandt's#freedom#

of#technique#and#a#cerH#

! 132!

tain#negligence#with#detail;#for#Ruskin,#it#is#in#Turner's#precision#and#"sympathy."#But#in#each#

case,#mastery#comprises#not#only#a#relation#to#the#subject#but#a#command#of#the#genre#

system#and#Freedom#From#determination.##

#

Perhaps#the#most#remarkable#aspect#of#Ruskin's#discussion#of#the#picturesque#is#his#

acceptance#of#Price's#claim#that#picturesqueness#is#a#separate#aesthetic#category.12#Price#

insisted#that#picturesqueness#was#categorically#different#from#beauty,#an#empirical#attribute#

of#objects#that#could#be#represented.#Most#commentators#consider#this#a#less#progressive#

view#than#that#of#Richard#Payne#Knight,#who#held#that#beauty#was#an#issue#of#the#sensory#

perception#of#light#and#its#variations#and#thus#not#inherent#in#objects;#picturesqueness#being#

merely#a#descriptor#of#some#of#those#objects#judged#to#be#beautiful#because#of#their#

perceptual#relations#with#a#subject.#In#most#twentiethHcentury#accounts#of#the#picturesque,#

where#it#is#seem#as#an#origin#for#modern#formalism,#the#more#progressive#position#appears#

to#belong#to#Knight,#who#was#in#fact#a#more#sophisticated#thinker#and#writer#than#Price.#Yet,#

if#we#put#aside#the#historical#success#of#Knight's#argument,#the#position#he#argues#H#that#

beauty#is#one#thing#and#picturesqueness#merely#an#attribute#of#it#H#is#the#more#conservative#

one,#held#also#by#his#quite#muddleheaded#contemporaries#such#as#Repton.#Knight's#position,#

although#philosophically#engaging,#could#not#have#made#as#much#sense#at#the#time#as#Price's#

convoluted#and#sometimes#illogical#attempts#to#put#abstract#and#critical#theories#of#

judgment#into#the#existing#cultural#formations#based#on#genre.#Price#had#a#neat#way#of#

demonstrating#that#the#aesthetic#appropriation#of#the#mean,#common,#and#disgusting#did#

not#perversely#value#these#things,#nor#did#aesthetic#appropriation#undo#the#double#

articulation#by#which#objects#possessed#social#and#aesthetic#value.#This#was#possible#so#long#

as#one#said#"picturesque"#rather#than#"beautiful"#about#the#dung#hills#of#everyday#life.##

#

Ruskin#implicitly#accepts#the#categorical#separation#of#the#picturesque#and#the#beautiful#and,#

what#is#more,#defines#the#picturesque#in#terms#of#the#sublime.#EighteenthHcentury#theorists#

were#unlikely#to#do#so#because#the#sublime#is#a#category#of#transcendence.#But,#for#Ruskin,#

the#distinction#between#the#beautiful#and#the#picturesque#is#that#the#picturesque#is#a#

parasitical#form#of#sublimity#(8:#221H47).#The#example#Ruskin#gives,#in#"The#Lamp#of#

Memory,"#is#of#cottages,#the#roofs#of#which#in#their#decrepit#and#twisted#shapes,#might#recall#

ranges#of#mountains.#The#equation#here#seems#to#be#a#version#of#the#opposition#of#nature#to#

artifice.#Art#is#beautiful,#nature#sublime,#and#those#human#works#that#are#greatly#aged#and#

changed#in#use#or#that#are#the#result#of#habitual#unconscious#practice#are#halfHnatural.#

Artifice#in#its#unreflected#picturesque#state#naturally#shows#the#pathos#of#human#works#

when#put#against#the#works#of#nature.#The#aesthete's#experience#of#picturesqueness#is,#then,#

a#sort#of#sublimity#where#the#subject#exceeds#the#object,#rather#than#the#other#way#around.#

We#could#conclude#from#Ruskin's#examples#that#the#picturesque#is#the#human;#that#is,#the#

human#seen#as#nature#rather#than#as#art.#The#beautiful#is#what#humans#attempt#to#obtain#in#

their#artifacts;#it#is,#as#it#were,#the#human#project#seen#as#objects,#however,#all#human#

projects,#architecture#for#instance,#are#vanitas.#They#are#metonymic,#or#parasitical,#of#death#

and#the#sublimity#of#time#itself.##

#

The#lower#picturesque#is#also#called#the#"surface#picturesque"#(6:#16).#This#surface#is#that#of#

the#parasitic#relations#by#which#mean#objects#might#produce#visual#stimuli#like#noble#natural#

objects.#Ruskin#supposes#that#these#visual#stimuli#are#so#inevitably#appealing#and#desirable#

that#those#without#spiritual#breadth#will#be#seduced#to#look#no#further#and#will#lack#criteria#

for#distinguishing#mountain#from#cottage.#On#the#other#hand,#the#noble#picturesque#is#a#

relation#in#depth.#Nobility#does#not#require#us#to#eschew#the#surface#

#

#

#

! 133!

relations,#but#rather#to#put#this#fascination#"in#subordination#to#the#inner#character#of#the#

object."#Turner#thus#knows#that#the#cottage#and#mountain#each#reward#his#sensorium#but#

knows,#too,#that#they#are#not#the#same;#that#the#cottage#is#pathetic.#This#is#his#"sympathy"#

and#breadth#of#spirit.##

#

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Ruskin's#definition#of#metaphor#as#"the#pathetic#fallacy"#(5:#205H6).#Ruskin#sees#metaphor#as#

a#kind#of#untruth#not#needed#by#great#poets,#who#can#speak#of#objects#and#scenes#directly.#

The#pathetic#fallacy#of#metaphorical#language#is#that,#while#it#is#a#weakness,#it#truly#

expresses#the#affect#on#the#poet#who#is#overcome#by#the#thing#described.#Ruskin#does#not#

say#that#the#cottage#is#a#metaphor#of#the#sublime#mountain,#yet#it#is#clear#that#the#

picturesque#arouses#the#feeling#of#pathos.#We#could#understand#the#lower#picturesque#in#a#

kind#of#pair#with#the#pathetic#fallacy.#The#lover#of#the#lower#picturesque#sees#truly#every#

detail#of#the#shattered#roof,#ivyHchoked#chimney,#and#clamp#walls#of#the#cottage,#but#is#lying#

nonetheless#through#a#failure#to#be#affected#by#poverty#and#decay.#

#

The#critique#of#the#picturesque#as#parasitical#sublimity#that#had#been#made#earlier#in#"The#

Lamp#of#Memory"#is#clearly#derived#from#questions#of#the#architectural#character#of#cottages#

that#go#back#to#"The#Poetry#of#Architecture."13#When#Ruskin#returns#to#these#thoughts#in#the#

passages#we#are#discussing#in#volume#four#of#Modem$Painters,#he#must#extend#the#scope#of#

the#analysis#from#architecture#to#painting#and#figure#painting;#and#he#does#so#with#the#

concept#of#sympathy.#

#

The#examples#of#human#figures#and#landscapes#and#buildings#with#human#figures#that#Ruskin#

gives#in#Modem$Painters#take#him#beyond#the#simple#material#relations#of#cottages#to#

mountains.#In#any#case,#it#is#unclear#whether#the#geological#time#of#the#decay#and#

weathering#of#the#mountain#can#be#understood#without#the#cottage;#that#is,#without#the#

gauge#of#human#life.14#In#a#remarkable#passage#in#"The#Lamp#of#Memory,"#Ruskin#describes#

the#horror#of#imagining#an#Alpine#landscape#without#permanent#habitations;#its#sublime#

beauties#would#be#uncanny#were#it#an#"aboriginal#forest#of#the#New#Continent"#(8:#223).#A#

scene#devoid#of#human#marks#will#necessarily#be#terrible#and#sublime.#Elsewhere,#he#

discusses#the#preference#of#a#viewer#to#"choose#for#his#subject#the#broken#stones#of#a#

cottage#rather#than#of#a#roadside#bank"#(6:#21).#Roadside#banks#are#another#paradigmatic#

picturesque#object#in#Uvedale#Price#and#there#is#no#reason#that#such#cuttings#in#to#the#earth,#

with#their#intricate#and#varied#forms#of#rock,#earth,#and#roots,#could#not#also#be#parasitical#of#

the#sublimity#of#mountains.#Nonetheless,#we#are#supposed#to#understand#thati#the#seeker#

after#picturesque#qualities#will#prefer#the#mined#cottage#"to#give#a#deeper#tone#to#his#

pleasure."#Ruskin#'s#only#remark#is#to#warn#that#the#pleasure#he#assumes#to#be#sought#will#be#

ignoble#without#an#authentic#sympathy.#In#this#case,#"sympathy"#is#merely#Ruskin's#

repetition#of#the#old#axiom#that#there#is#as#much#joy#in#a#life#lead#in#cottages#as#in#palaces.##

#

What#the#noble#picturesque#has#sympathy#with#are#sorrow#and#old#age;#that#is,#the#explicitly#

human#attributes#of#the#scene#that#are#possessed#by#nature#only#at#the#most#general#level#of#

the#history#of#our#fall#from#the#grace#of#creation.#Nevertheless,#Ruskin#insists#that#sorrow#

and#age#would#be#sublime,#except#that#in#the#picturesque#they#are#"mingled#with#such#

familiar#and#common#characters#as#prevent#the#object#from#becoming#perfectly#pathetic#in#

its#sorrow,#or#perfectly#venerable#in#its#age"#(6:#11).#This#is#another#symptom#of#the#genre#

hierarchy#implicit#in#the#picturesque,#but#it#leads#us#on#to#further#qualifications#of#

"sympathy."#The#noble#picturesque#is#the#sympathetic#observation#of##

#

suffering,#of#poverty#or#decay,#nobly#endured#by#unpretending#strength#of#heart.#Nor#only#unpretending#but#unconscious.#If#there#be#visible#pensiveness#in#the#building,#as#in#a#ruined#abH#

! 134!

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bey,#it#becomes,#or#claims#to#become#beautiful;#but#the#picturesqueness#is#in#the#unconscious#suffering,#H#

the#look#that#an#old#labourer#has,#not#knowing#that#there#is#anything#pathetic#in#his#grey#hair,#and#withered#

arms,#and#sunburnt#breast#...#[Between#the#‘extremes’#of#the#admitted#pathos#of#the#ruined#abbey#and#the#

swept#proprieties#and#neatness#of#modern#England]#…#there#is#the#unconscious#confession#of#the#facts#of#

distress#and#decay,#in#byHwords;#the#world’s#hard#work#being#gone#through#all#the#while,#and#no#pity#asked#

for,#nor#contempt#feared.#(6:#14H15)#

#

At#the#most#obvious#level,#human#misery#is#being#naturalized#here,#and#with#this#its#causes#in#

material#poverty#that#must#have#seemed#a#fact#of#life#to#Ruskin#before#he#began#to#think#on#

systemic#aspects#of#the#misdistribution#of#wealth.#But#Ruskin’s#insistence#on#the#unconsciousness#

of#suffering#is#more#or#less#explicitly#political#in#the#terms#of#his#day.#Clearly,#what#would#not#be#

allowed#in#the#noble#picturesque#is#the#knowledge#of#suffering#on#the#part#the#persons#viewed,#

who#might#then#call#on#the#sympathy#of#the#noble#viewer#in#a#less#than#abstract#way.#This#follows#

the#eighteenth#century#distinction#of#a#deserving#poor#from#the#mendicant#poor.15#In#a#later#

piece#entitled#“Of#Vulgarity,””#Ruskin#describes#“sympathy”#as#an#attribute#of#the#wellHbred#

gentleman#who#is#kind#but#reserved#(7:#343H62.#He#argues#against#those#who#would#

misunderstand#this#reserve#as#a#lack#of#sympathy.#Ruskin#thinks#that#reserve#is#not#a#failure#to#be#

generous#with#one’s#self#but#an#acute#realization#of#class.#“In#a#great#many#respects#it#is#

impossible#that#he#should#be#open#except#to#men#of#his#own#kind…#By#the#very#acuteness#of#his#

sympathy#he#knows#how#much#he#can#give#to#anybody…#and#would#be#glad#to#give#more#if#he#

could.#[But]#whatever#he#said#a#vulgar#man#would#misinterpret”#(7:#347H48).#The#poor#must#thus#

be#aware#of#their#plight#and#the#noble#viewer#must#not#speak#with#them.#Although#sympathy#

might#lead#to#charity#at#a#later#time,#within#the#space#of#aesthetic#appropriation#it#is#a#relatively#

specialised#concept#of#feeling,#or#lack#or#it,#in#art.#It#is#an#attribute#of#the#observer#not#a#relation#

with#the#scene.#

#

Ruskin's#demonstration#of#the#veracity#of#his#definition#of#the#picturesque#is#a#comparison#of#two#

prints#of#windmills#by#Clarkson#Stanfield#and#by#Turner.#Ruskin#begins#with#the#rhetorical#claim#

that#we#will#find#Stanfield's#print#the#more#attractive#but#that#he#can#persuade#us#that#Turner's#is#

the#better,#not#least#became#it#refuses#to#be#attractive#for#us.#Turner,#it#seems#has#been#limited#

in#his#attempts#to#please#us#by#keeping#his#mill#in#a#reasonably#serviceable#condition,#while#

Stanfield#has#sought#out,#and#found#with#an#evident#delight,#a#mill#packed#with#features#of#tone#

and#line,#and#incidentally#so#decrepit#that#it#would#doubtless#be#the#ruin#of#any#community#who#

depended#on#it.#But#all#this#is#mildly#humorous,#for#Stanfield#has#changed#a#real#poverty#into#an#

imaginary#eye#pleasing#one.#The#conceit#doesn’t#ridicule.#Stanfield#tries#to#please#even#if#this#

requires#him#to#exaggerate,#while#Turner#refuses#pleasure#the#statement#or#general#truths.#There#

is#also#a#question#of#salary#all#of#this.#Ruskin#writes#for#Turner#and#for#us,#not#for#Stanfield,#who#

has#been#invited#into#the#argument#only#to#be#excluded.#Stanfield's#problem#is#different#from#

that#of#the#liberal#viewer;#he#has#been#paid#to#overcome#his#feelings#at#the#sight#of#poverty#and#

decay#Unlike#Turner,#who#struggles#with#his#genius,#Stanfield#has#"pursued#his#career"#as#a#

master#of#the#lower#picturesque,#a#choice#that#may#have#cost#him#dearly#in#the#hardening#of#his#

heart.#

! 135!

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#

#

3.#“The#Picturesque#of#Windmills,”#comparison#of#paintings#by#Clarkson#Stanfield#and#J.#M.#W.#Turner#

#

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the#inclusion#of#an#abandoned#mill#stone#that#alludes#to#its#internal#mechanism.#Ruskin#

writes#as#if#Turner#has#provided,#rather#than#depicted#a#serviceable#mill;#and#while#this#

passage#of#thought#might#seem#“sympathetic”#to#users#of#mills,#this#is#only#the#first#stage#of#

Ruskin’s#rather#darker#and#deeper#account#of#Turner’s#sympathy:#“he#feels#something#

pensive#about#it.#It#is#poor#property…#Turning#around#a#couple#of#stones#for#the#mere#

pulverization#of#human#food#is#not#noble#work#for#the#winds.#So,#also#of#all#low#human#

labour#to#which#one#sets#human#souls…#All#men#have#felt#it#so#this#grinding#at#the#mill,#

whether#it#be#breeze#or#soul#that#is#set#to#it”#(6:#18H19).#Turner’s#sympathy,#then,#is#to#know#

to#be#glad#that#he#is#not#manual#laborer#and#to#have#the#good#manners#not#to#display#his#

relief#to#those#less#fortunate.##

#

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crofters.#In#a#spectacular#word#painting,#Ruskin#gives#a#page#and#a#half#of#descriptive#

approbation#of#Highland#scenery#structured#only#by#the#rhythmic#prose#that#represents#the#

passage#of#his#eye#across#the#imagines#scene.#The#fluid#eye#hesitates#momentarily#in##

! 136!

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the#middle#of#the#passage#when#catching#on#the#carcass#of#a#ewe,#and#this#is#carefully#

calculated#to#cut#the#more#deeply#when#Ruskin#finishes#by#focusing#in#on#a#small#section#of#

the#view,#on#a#starving#man#and#boy:#"the#child's#wasted#shoulders,#cutting#his#old#tartan#

jacket#through,#so#sharp#the)#are"#(7:#268H69).#The#rhetorical#structure#of#"Of#Mountain#

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description#of#the#scenery#when#he#arrives#at#the#mountain#village,#which#is#a#"dark#and#

plagueHlike#stain#in#the#midst#of#gentle#landscape"#(6:#389).#This#turn#in#the#rhetorical#

structure#is#affective#through#an#unexpected#change#in#the#status#of#description.#Ruskin#

induces#in#the#reader#a#state#of#airy,#ocular,#distanced#observation#before#sharply#intruding#

with#human#reference#and#a#moral#argument.#The#passages#begin#ekphrasis:#in#the#verbal#description#of#a#visual#representation,#we#hear#the#picture#that#Ruskin#sees.#But#then#at#the#

sight#of#human#misery#we#are#jolted,#disgusted#(at#the#objects#and#then#at#ourselves#for#

aestheticizing#them),#and#we#realize#that#the#description#Ruskin#gives#us#is#not#mediated#

visual#experience,#it#is#the#position#he#argues#against.#The#descriptionHminusHargument#is#the#

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complicated#way.#Although#the#passage#quoted#is#all#pejorative,#a#long#footnote#gives#a#

description#of#innocent#visual#pleasures#from#which#disgust#and#sympathy#will#awaken#us.#

Ruskin#introduces#the#note#as#an#entry#in#his#diary#about#a#''happy#walk"#along#the#Somme.#

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generalization#of#a#particular#experience#of#his#own.#The#"feverish#misery#of#the#lower#

quarter#of#the#town''#described#in#the#body#of#the#text#is,#in#fact,#Amiens.#The#decrepit#

buildings#are#the#cottages#of#gloomy#spinners#and#dyers.#The#faces#of#laborers#and#the#green#

water#and#soaking#wrecks#of#boats#match#the#reflexive#sentences#at#the#end#of#the#note.##

#

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about#the#bits#of#blue#water,#in#Prout's#drawings;#but#as#I#looked#toHday#al#the#unhealthy#face#and#

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feeling#how#many#suffering#persons#must#pay#for#my#picturesque#subject#and#happy#walk.#(6:#20)#

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George#Landow#writes#that#the#inclusion#of#the#note#shows#that#Ruskin#"could#not#help#

feeling."17#Robert#Hewison#thinks#it#a#"documentary#touch"#that#supports#the#body#text,#as#

well#the#general#theme#of#Ruskin#distancing#himself#from#the#picturesque#as#his#social#

conscience#is#awakened.18#But#the#text#is#much#more#complex,#paradoxical,#and#recursive#

than#that.#This#is#more#than#one#of#Ruskin's#famous#inconsistencies;#it#is#a#deliberate#

polyphony.#The#Ruskin#of#the#body#text#accuses#the#Ruskin#at#Amiens#of#a#monstrous#

heartlessness.#There#is#reason#to#think#that#on#his#happy#walk#at#Amiens#Ruskin#looks#to#take#

pleasure#by#finding#a#scene#to#compare#to#a#particular#drawing#by#Samuel#Prout.19#His#

reflection#on#the#cost#of#his#experience#is#as#formulaic#as#a#memento#mori#and#does#not#

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the#chapter.#In#fact,#his#reaction#in#the#diary#note#is#much#closer#to#those#lovers#of#the#lower#

picturesque#described#immediately#after#in#the#text#as#"innocent#of#evil#but#not#broad#in#

thought,"#who#might#cultivate#their#taste#"not#with#any#special#view#to#artistic,#but#merely#

humane#education"#(6:#21H22).#

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! 137!

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the#lower#picturesque.#The#heartlessness#passage#then#builds#our#outrage#at#picturesque#

practice#before#the#remainder#of#the#chapter#piles#qualification#on#qualification#until#the#

lower#picturesque#appears#as#the#inevitable#starting#point#to#a#love#of#art,#and#marks#the#

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person#who#“would#thrust#all#poverty#and#misery#out#of#his#way”#(6:#22).#The#note#on#Amiens#

thus#lies#at#the#pivot#of#the#chapter’s#structure,#at#the#height#of#Ruskin's#disgust#before#he#

forgives#the#picturesque.#Prout#is#a#symptom#of#Ruskin's#equivocation#an#exception#in#that#

he#is,#by#virtue#of#the#genre#of#his#work,#a#master#of#the#lower#picturesque;#not#a#history#

painter#like#Turner,#but#nonetheless#sympathetic#and#exempt#from#denigration#(6:#22H23).##

#

It#is#well#established#that#Ruskin’s#critique#of#the#picturesque#reveals#his#debts#to#it#as#much#

as#anything#else.20#It#might#have#been#the#case#that#Ruskin#had#difficulty#in#thinking#beyond#

lm#formative#milieu#and#was,#at#the#time#he#wrote#volume#four#of#Modem$Painters,#developing#the#interests#and#beliefs#that#would#guide#his#later#career#as#a#social#reformer.#

But#the#form#of#his#equivocation#is#implicit#in#the#picturesque#itself.#On#one#count,#this#is#

because#it#follows#the#track#of#seeing#artistic#merit#in#the#interpolation#of#genre#that#I#have#

been#emphasizing#throughout;#on#another,#because#the#argument#is#supposed#to#be#selfH

evident#in#our#disgust#at#bad#art;#and#lastly,#because#our#disgust#at#bad#art#is#put#in#relation#

to#questions#of#the#meaning#of#disgust#within#the#represented#scene.##

#

Price,#like#Edmund#Burke,#posits#disgust#as#having#three#levels#of#action#in#the#realm#of#

taste.21#At#the#first,#disgust#shows#the#power#of#art,#in#that#dung#hills#and#back#kitchens#can#

be#objects#of#artistic#representation,#when#we#would#not#enjoy#the#sight#of#them#in#real#

life.22#At#the#second,#there#is#a#limit#to#this#aspect#of#art;#some#things#disgust#even#in#

representation:#we#can#imagine#various#ugly#and#distorted#human#faces#as#studies#in#

character,#but#a#man#with#a#face#like#an#oyster#covered#in#wens#and#excrescences#is#too#

much.23#At#the#third,#the#taste#of#the#poor#disgusts#us#because#the#poor#prefer#

representations#of#food,#jolly#times,#and#fine#weather.#Their#fault#is#to#desire#sensual#

pleasures#so#much#that#they#misunderstand#the#contract#of#mimesis;#wanting#to#have#in#

representation#things#longedHfor#but#unobtainable#in#life.#My#point#has#been#to#show#that#

Ruskin's#condemnation#of#the#lower#picturesque#has#as#much#to#do#with#this#disgust#at#the#

low#taste#of#the#English#middle#class#as#it#has#to#do#with#the#poverty#represented.#Ruskin#

deploys#a#three#tiered#structure#assuming:#one,#a#real#phenomenal#affection#of#disgust,#fear,#

and#sorrow#that#he#and#the#reader#might#have#at#real#scenes#of#human#depravity#and#

degradation;#two,#a#right#approach#by#noble#artists#to#such#scenes#wherein#they#know#what#

can#and#cannot#be#bracketed#sufficiently#in#representation;#and#three,#a#slavish#compulsion#

to#imitation#that#disgusts#those#of#good#taste.#The#last#is#foolish#and#dismissible,#but#when#

we#think#on#it,#such#abuse#of#art#comes#to#truly#disgust.#Ruskin’s#and#the#reader’s#taste#is#

affronted#by#the#Stanfield#print#a#strange#kind#of#circuit#with#our#phobic#horror#of#the#poor.#

Stanfield’s#approach#to#

! 138!

art#is#merely#unreasonable,#but#the#knowledge#of#this#leads#us#to#feel#sick#and#angry.#

#

There#are#differences,#of#course,#between#Ruskin#and#the#eighteenthHcentury#theorists.#Price#

was#a#lover#of#Dutch#landscapes#and#of#genre#painters#such#as#Philips#Wouvermanns#and#

David#Teniers.#Ruskin#includes#a#chapter#on#these#artists#in#volume#five#of#Modern$Painters,#the#introduction#to#which#includes#the#memorable#quip#that#''all#their#life#and#work#is#the#

same#sort#of#mystery#to#me#as#the#mind#of#my#dog#when#he#rolls#on#carrion"#(7:#363#).#

Ruskin's#taste#thus#differs#from#that#of#Price,#but#their#mechanism#for#confronting#the#low#in#

art#is#the#same.#Servile#art#is#not#simply#an#unreasonable#use#of#art,#but#an#affront#to#reason#

that#leads#to#it#own#affects;#that#is,#to#disgust.#

#

It#is#unclear#whether#Ruskin#had#read#Price#with#attention#to#the#details#of#his#theory#of#

disgust.24#In#any#case,#he#would#have#little#use#for#it.#Because#he#thinks#the#beauty#and#

nobility#of#art#lie#in#its#relations#with#the#world,#he#cannot#believe#(as#does#Price)#that#parts#

of#the#world#are#beneath#representation#yet#capable#of#ennoblement#by#the#choice#of#the#

artist#to#objectify#them.#He#nevertheless#has#a#theory#of#disgust.#The#manuscript#Ruskinania#

published#in#the#Library#Edition#with#volume#two#of#Modern#Painters#includes#largely#

complete#notes#for#a#chapter#on#awe#and#horror#(4:#371H81).#The#editors#do#not#know#

whether#it#was#intended#for#inclusion#in#volume#two#or#for#a#revision.#They#point#out#that#

some#of#the#words#and#phrases,#including#"Of#Mountain#Gloom,"#are#used#in#later#volumes.#

The#point#of#these#notes#seems#to#be#to#distinguish#the#experience#of#the#sublime#from#a#

love#of#horror.25#Just#as#he#does#later#with#the#picturesque,#Ruskin#draws#a#line#between#

right#and#wrong#uses#of#horror.#There#is#a#shallow#enjoyment#of#the#affect#of#being#

frightened#and#a#true#horror#al#the#evil#of#the#world#wherein#"there#ought#surely#be#times#

when#we#feel#its#bitterness,#and#perceive#this#awful#globe#of#ours#as#it#is#indeed,#one#pallid#

charnel#house,#H#a#ball#strewed#bright#with#human#ashes,#glaring#in#its#poised#sway#to#and#fro#

beneath#the#sun#that#warms#it,#all#blinding#white#with#death#from#pole#to#pole''#(4:#376).##

#

Ruskin's#topic#is#the#horror#and#fear#of#the#terrible#sublime,#but#he#had#already#defined#the#

picturesque#as#a#parasitical#sublimity#and#his#views#on#disgust#are#consistent.#"Disgust,#

properly#so#called,#is#a#minor#degree#of#horror#felt#respecting#things#ignobly$painful$or$offensive”(4:#372).26#Ruskin#thinks#that#horror#is#evoked#by#artists#imagining#a#body#more#or#

less#subjected#to#visible#decay:#as#in#the#skeleton#dances#of#Retsch.#A#'horrible'#death#is#one#

in#which#the#laws#of#life#are#violently#and#unnaturally#interrupted#with#such#infliction#or#pain#

as#nature#usually#forbids:#as#in#the#body's#being#torn#or#dashed#to#pieces#H#or#burnt"#(4:#371#).#

It#is#worth#remembering#at#this#point#the#skeletal#figures#of#the#Highland#shepherds.27#The#

horror#that#Ruskin#uses#to#tell#the#unrepresentable#facts#of#the#Highland#clearances#is#the#

boy’s#visible#skeleton,#his#walking#death.#For#the#viewer#of#the#lower#picturesque,#whom#

Ruskin#reproaches#here,#such#a#scene#in#life#would#presumably#disgust#(it#being#a#minor#and#

ignoble#horror#to#starve#to#death),#but#still#remain#something#amenable#lo#being#depicted#as#

"character"#in#painting.##

#

Ruskin#titles#one#fragment#of#the#notes#“Supplementary#Notes#on#Terror#Arising#from#

Weakness#of#Health."#He#refers#to#the#characters#and#works#of#Keats#and#Coleridge,#but#the#

passage#could#also#be#thought#of#as#foreknowledge#of#his#later#madness#and#hyperesthesia.#

Ruskin#describes#the#reactions#or#a#farmer#and#a#poet#when#coming#across#a#snake.#The#

farmer#kills#it#and#"proceeds#in#his#walk#H#whistling.#A#sick#and#sorrowful#poet,#meeting#the#

same#creature,#pauses#watches,#follows#and#irritates#it#H#takes#strange#pleasure#in#looking#

into#its#eyes,#and#hearing#it#hiss"#(4:#380).#This#is#a#course#of#action#that#Ruskin#does#not#

recommend#and#that#can#be#forgiven#only#if#it#results#in#"Lamia"#or#''Christabel"#(or,#perhaps,#

the#works#of#John#Ruskin).#What#is#it#to#say#that#

#

! 139!

disgust#is#an#ignoble#form#of#this#encounter#with#inhuman#evil?#We#could#conclude#our#tour#

of#the#Ruskinian#picturesque#by#defining#the#picturesque#as#an#ignoble#parasitic#fascination#

with#human#degradation,#which#can#be#forgiven#if#it#is#the#start#of#something#better.#

#

Ruskin#and#the#Picturesque#

#

Despite#Ruskin's#vehement#condemnation#of#it#in#some#places,#his#work#is#indebted#to#earlier#

writers#on#the#picturesque;#and#in#general#terms,#his#work#can#be#understood#to#be#a#

development#of#picturesque#sensibility.#But#it#is#also#the#case#that#our#image#of#the#

picturesque#is,#to#a#large#degree,#one#received#through#Ruskin.#To#the#extent#that#we#think#

of#the#picturesque#as#a#general#aesthetic#concept,#rather#than#one#particular#to#its#

eighteenthHcentury#inventors,#it#is#in#Ruskin's#condemnation#of#the#picturesque#that#the#

concept#is#completed.#Ruskin#tells#us#that#the#picturesque#is#a#kind#facile#preoccupation#with#

visual#qualities#that#blind#the#weak#minded#to#human#suffering.#The#picturesque#leads#to#

unseemly#interests#and#Ruskin's#disgust#at#picturesqueness#is#an#exact#parallel#to#the#

picturesque#viewer's#having#forgotten#to#be#disgusted.#There#are#two#interesting#aspects#to#

this#paradoxical#denunciation.#First,#Ruskin's#denunciation#takes#the#form#of#an#

unacknowledged#reiteration#of#the#problem#of#conceptualizing#disgust#that#is#fundamental#

to#eighteenth#century#picturesque#theory.#Second,#for#Ruskin#to#repeat#the#problematic#of#

disgust#as#if#it#were#an#aspect#of#his#historical#distance#from#the#picturesque#(rather#than#an#

integral#part#of#the#picturesque#thematic)#is,#in#a#strange#way,#a#development#of#the#

eighteenthHcentury#picturesque.#Ruskin's#use#of#the#picturesque#as#a#kind#of#hors#d'oeuvre#

to#his#own#project#completes#the#picturesque,#gives#it#the#temporal#mechanism#by#which#

this#theory#of#rural#genre#painting#and#property#improvement#could#become#a#general#

aesthetic#principle.##

#

Since#Ruskin,#it#is#commonplace#to#explain#the#judgment#or#taste#in#its#difference#not#only#

from#interested#judgment,#from#conceptual#perfection#and#the#rest#of#the#Kantian#

apparatus,#but#also#from#a#naive#aestheticism,#from#positions#that#Ruskin#would#have#said#

lacked#sympathy#and#that#are#these#days#called#“uncritical”#Heinrich#Wolfflin,#Nikolaus#

Pevsner,#Susan#Sontag,#Robert#Smithson,#and#YveHAlain#Bois#have#all#played#on#the#idea#of#

the#picturesque#as#a#kind#of#transhistorical#precursor.28#The#picturesque#that#Ruskin#received#

was#a#theory#of#how#taste#could#be#normalized#within#an#elite#and#in#relation#to#objects#

appropriated#by#that#elite.#After#Ruskin,#and#since#the#general#agreement#on#the#

impossibility#of#an#objective#aesthetics,#the#picturesque#has#become#available#as#the#

example#of#a#naive#aesthetic#of#the#observing#subject.#The#picturesque#is#usually#evoked#in#

the#present#tense#as#a#pejorative,#but#then#restored#to#privilege#by#being#given#as#the#origin#

of#modern#perceptualist#culture.#Just#as#the#eighteenthHcentury#picturesque#was#fixated#on#

genre#transcoding#(on#the#mechanisms#by#which#a#high#taste#for#low#objects#could#be#

normalized#and#displayed#as#virtu),#so#the#picturesque#since#Ruskin#has#been#a#site#of#historical#transcoding,#keeping#open#the#place#of#"taste''#in#modern#aesthetic#theory.#The#

picturesque#stands#for#a#historical#origin#or#a#present#lack:#it#is#at#once#the#origin#of#

modernist,#politically#nuanced#formalism#and#what#distinguishes#popular#from#progressive#

taste.#This#confusion#is#not#some#fault#in#the#commentary#on#the#picturesque#(whether#in#

Ruskin#or#later).#The#historical#success#of#the#picturesque#has#been#in#its#giving#us#an#original,#

Arcadian#scene#of#a#formalism#unwittingly#subjugated#to#content.#This#everHpresent#

innocence#can#be#evoked#at#any#point#and#overcome#again#and#again#by#the#discovery#of#

either#the#arbitrariness#of#the#content#of#cultural#practices#or#their#political#determinations.#

These#nuances#are#a#modern#development#that#can#be#distinguished#from#the#eighteenthH

century#invention#of#the#picturesque#at#the#point#where#Ruskin#completes#the#picturesque#in#

his#condemnation#of#its#heartlessness.#

! 140!

#

Notes#

Thanks#to#Rosemary#Hawker#and#Charles#Rice.#

1.#This#and#all#references#to#Ruskin's#work#hereafter#are#to#the#Library#Edition#of#The$Works$of$John$Ruskin,#ed.#E.T.#Cook#and#Alexander#Wedderburn,#39#vols.#(London:#George#Allen,#1903H12).#My#citations#follow#the#convention#of#volume#

and#page#numbers.#

2.#Uvedale#Price,#Essays$on$the$Picturesque#(London,#1810).#Price’s#threeHvolume#treatise#proposes#to#teach#landscape#

Improvement#from#the#principles#of#painting.#This#aim#has#lead#many#commentators#to#see#it#as#a#precocious#

compositional#formalism.#In#fact,#there#are#remarkable#statements#on#composition#as,#for#Price,#the#principles#of#

painting#are#largely#those#of#it’s#genre#system#and#the#objects#and#ornaments#of#these#genres.#A#crucial#passage#is#in#the#

"Essay#on#Picturesque#Architecture."2:#329.#where#Price#is#sometimes#thought#to#say#that,#if#examined#as#composition,#

there#is#no#difference#between#the#work#of#Claude#and#of#Ostade.#See,#for#instance#Martin#Price,#"The#Picturesque#

Moment."#in#From$Sensibility$to$Romanticism,#ed.#Frederick#W.#Hilles#and#Harold#Bloom#(New#York:#Oxford#University#

Press,#1965).#In#fact,#what#he#says#is#that#the#correspondences#of#their#palaces#and#cottages#are#pleasing#because#they#

offer#the#viewer#the#possibility#of#transcoding#the#genre#hierarchy.##

3.#See#Humphry#Repton,#“A#Letter#to#Uvedale#Price,”#published#in#Price,#Essays$on$the$Picturesque,#3:3H21.#See#also#Reptons’s#description#of#the#generic#height#of#garden#and#landscape#in#J.#C#Loudon,#ed.,$The$Landscape$Gardening$of$the$Late$Humphry$Repton$Esq.#(London,#1840),#365.#There#are#in#Repton,#moments#of#concern#that#the#exercise#of#

picturesque#taste#is#materially#to#the#disadvantage#of#agricultural#workers;#for#instance,#in#Fragment#32#where#Repton#

reports#his#meeting#with#a#laborer#forced#to#a#mile#further#because#he#is#forbidden#to#cross#a#park#(The$Landscape$Gardening,#535).#Both#Loudon,#in#his#first#book#and#Marshall#are#antipicturesque#ad#deny#the#separation#of#agricultural#

and#scenic#improvement.#See#J.#C.#Loudon,#A$Treatise$on$Forming,$Improving$and$Managing$Country$Residences#(London,#1806)#and#William#Marshall,#On$the$Landed$Property$of$England,$an$Elementary$and$Practical$Treatise$Containing$the$Purchase,$the$Improvement$and$the$Management$of$Landed$Estates$(London#1804)#4.#Sir#Joshua#Reynolds,#Discourses$on$Art,#ed.#Robert#R#Wark#(New#Haven;#Yale#University#Press,#1975),#Discourse#13,#

233.#

5.#Reynolds#explains#this#point#in#Discourse#13#and#gives#it#as#the#mechanism#of#Comparison#and#relative#hierarchy#

between#painting#and#the#other#arts#including#architecture#and#gardening.#Reynolds’#strong#argument#that#all#painters#

should#strive#for#the#grand#manner#while#he#himself#preferred#and#practiced#a#kind#of#elegant#rusticity,#was#remarked#as#

inconsistent#at#the#time,#see#especially#William#Blake’s#marginalia,#in#ibid.,#Appendix#1.#

6.#See#E.#P.#Thompson,#The$Making$of$the$English$Working$Class$(Hammondsworth;#Penguin#1963).#

7.#Jerome#Stolnitz,#“On#the#Origins#of#‘Aesthetic#Disinterestedness’”#Journal$of$Aesthetics$and$Art$Criticism#20#(1961):#

131H43.#

8.#This#idea#of#a#republic#of#taste#mirroring#the#political#republic#is#the#key#to#John#Barrell’s#reading#of#Reynolds#in#The$Political$Theory$of$Painting$from$Reynolds$to$Hazlit:$The$body$of$the$Public#(New#Haven;#Yale#University#Press,#1986).#Barrell#has#drawn#attention#to#this#idea#before#in#English$literature$in$history$1730R1780:$An$equal,$Wise$Survey#(London;#Hutchinson,#1983),#where#the#play#on#interest#and#disinterest#in#government#and#taste#is#taken#from#the#poet#James#

Thomson.#Barrell#relies#to#some#extent#on#J.#G.#A.#Pocock’s#various#analysis#of#the#tradition#of#civic#humanism.#Of#

particular#relevance#is#Pocock’s#essay,#“Authority#and#Property:#The#Question#of#Liberal#Origins,”#in#Virtue,$Commerce$and$History#(Cambridge:#Cambridge#University#Press,#1985),#51H78,#which#deals#with#the#authority#conferring#status#of#

land#and#the#political#alignments#around#the#proposition#that#“land,#or#real#property#tended#to#make#men#independent#

citizens,#who#articulated#their#natural#property#tended#to#make#them#artificial#beings,#whose#appetites#and#powers#

could#and#must#be#governed#by#a#sovereign”#(68).#What#land#defended#was#not#the#harmony#of#one#class#over#another,#

but#the#freedom#of#members#of#the#polity#and#the#legislature#from#being#drawn#into#the#relationship#of#patronage#by#

executive#government.#Pocock#points#out#the#lexical#equivalence#of#“property#and#“propriety”#in#the#seventeenth#

century#that#bears#on#eighteenth#century#fears#of#corruption,#but#also,#no#doubt#on#the#“proper#character”#in#landscape#

gardening#and#architecture.#

9.#The#position#of#the#bourgeois#critic#is#made#wonderfully#clear#in#Ruskin's#bitter#caricature#of#himself#as#“an#

architectural#manHmilliner"#in#the#essay#“Traffic”#from#The$Crown$of$the$Wild$Olive,#which#is#as#much#a#critique#of#the#

possibilities#of#criticism#as#it#is#of#bourgeois#taste.#

10.#The#English#cottage#epitomized#the#picturesque#from#its#beginnings.#The#cottage#is#something#that#we#now#think#of#

almost#entirely#in#aesthetic#terms,#but#around#1800#it#was#a#crucial#object#in#a#national#political#crisis#over#rural#poverty#

and#rebellion.#We#could#argue#that#the#prime#function#of#the#picturesque#historically#was#to#separate#scenic#landscape#

improvements#from#concurrent#agricultural#improvements#at#a#conceptual#level#

Nowhere#is#this#binary#structure#more#clearly#marked#than#in#the#pattern#books#for#picturesque#cottage#design.#As#a#

genre#these#veer#Between#picturesque#aesthetic#discourse#and#Bentamite#social#management#of#agricultural#

workforces,#and#several#books#attempt#to#have#it#both#ways.#In#any#case,#by#1837H38#when#“The#Poetry#of#Architecture”#

was#published,#architectural#pattern#books#on#cottages#were#a#highly#defined#genre#with#a#markedly#nationalistic#

sentiment#and#Ruskin's#assertion#that#they#were#not#picturesque#must#have#had#a#curious#reception.#For#a#description#

of#the#pattern#books,#See#Michael#McMordie,#"Picturesque#Pattern#Books#and#PreHVictorian#Designers,"#Architectural$History#18#(#1975):#42H59,#and#my#"The#Picturesque#Cottage:#Genre#and#Technique,"#Southern$Review#22,#no.#3#(1989):#301H14#

George#Landow#in#the#Aesthetic$and$Critical$Theories$of$John$Ruskin#(Princeton.#Princeton#University#Press,#1971,#223n,#points#out#that#Ruskin#may#well#have#seen#G.#L.#Meason’s#On$the$Landscape$Architecture$of$the$Great$Painters$of$Italy#(London,#1828).#The#first#pattern#book#to#deal#with#“Italian#cottages”#is#Thomas#Fredrick#Hunt’s#Architecttura$Campestre#(London,#1827)#and#the#most#assured#is#Charles#Parker’s#Villa$Rustica#(London,#1832).#All#of#these#are#intended#for#English#clients#and#do#

! 141!

Not#oppose#English#to#Continental#taste#on#the#part#of#the#cottagers#or#on#the#part#of#the#aesthetes#building#them.#It#is#

my#view#that#Parker,#like#Charles#Barry#about#the#same#time,#is#using#foreign#stylistic#sources#because#he#wished#to#use#

irregular#planning#geometries.#Irregular#buildings#in#English#vernacular#are#strangely#controversial#among#the#pattern#

book#architects#because#they#were#held#by#some#mix#the#binary#opposition#between#the#political#and#aesthetic#objects#

that#the#cottage#was.#These#matters#are#discussed#in#my#Ph.D#thesis#The$Ornamental$Cottage,$Landscape$and$Disgust,#University#of#Cambridge,#1989,#and#a#book#of#the#same#title#in#preparation.#

11.#The#status#of#Scotland#is#interesting#here,#and#I#am#unsure#what#to#make#of#Ruskin’s#description#of#the#

impoverishment#of#the#Highlanders#mentioned#later#in#this#text.#It#could#be#that#this#special#pleading#on#Ruskin’s#part#–#

he#is#prepared#to#let#some#admission#of#faults#with#Britain#past#his#nationalism#on#the#issues#touching#his#ancestral#

home.#Or,#on#the#contrary,#it#could#be#that#he#wrote#so#completely#as#an#Englishman#as#to#think#Scotland#as#a#foreign#

place.#

12.#Elizabeth#Helsinger,#Ruskin$and$the$Art$of$the$Beholder#(Cambridge,#Mass;#Harvard#University#Press,#1982),#argues#

that#Ruskin#begins#with#beauty#(and#truth)#as#the#only#aesthetic#category#and#has#picturesqueness#and#the#sublime#

merely#as#issues#of#points#of#view.#She#thinks#that#he#then#changes#his#mind#and#comes#to#admit#the#sublime#as#a#

separate#category#through#the#work#on#the#“noble#picturesque”#and#the#grotesque.#

13.#In#the#“Lamp#of#Memory,”#the#discussion#of#the#lower#picturesque#attention#to#detail#is#very#close#to#those#of#Price#

and#Reynolds,#in#that#the#problem#with#the#architectural#picturesque#is#compared#with#the#problem#of#those#sculptors#

who#too#accurately#depict#hair.#Price#makes#the#same#complaint#of#Denner,#a#painter#who#says#errs#by#too#accurate#an#

attempt#at#detail.#See#Price,#Essays$on$the$Picturesque,#3:#317.#14.#Again,#this#is#a#fundamental#picturesque#theme#recalling#Repton’s#insistence#on#the#necessity#of#ornamental#

dwellings#to#anchor#the#look#in#the#scenic#view.#See,#for#instance,#his#discussion#of#the#role#of#a#design#for#Blaise#Castle#

Estate#in#The$Landscape$Gardening,#264H67.#15.#On#this#distinction,#see#John#Marrell,#The$Dark$Side$of$the$Landscape:$The$Rural$Poor$in$English$Painting,#1730H1840#(Cambridge:#Cambridge#University#Press,#1980).#

16.#W.#J.#T.#Mitchell#describes#“the#still#moment#of#ekphrastic#hope,”#in#which#the#sequential#and#referential#structure#of#

language#is#forgotten#in#the#will#to#representation.#This#is#succeeded;#he#says,#by#“ekphrastic#fear,”#the#uncanny#sense#

of#the#difference#of#the#visual#and#verbal#collapsing.#See#“Ekphrasis#and#the#Other,”#chap.#5#of#W.#J.#T.#Mitchell,$Picture$Theory#(Chicago;#Chicago#University#Press,#1994).#17.#Landow,#The$Aesthetic$and$Critical$Theories,#232.#18.#Robert#Hewison,#John$Ruskin;$The$Arguent$of$the$Eye#(London:#Thames#and#Hudson,#1976),#49.#

19.#The#Scene#Ruskin#Describes#is#very#like#the#print#by#Samuel#Prout#published#in#“Notes#on#Prout#and#Hunt”#(14:#facing#

392)#and#reproduced#here.#Ruskin’s#family#had#collected#Prout’s#work#and#Ruskin#had#followed#it#from#childhood,#

believing#Prout’s#importance#lay#in#his#brining#picturesque#principles#to#urban#scenes.#Ruskin#writes#of#Prout#in#the#note#

and#might#have#been#looking#for#this#view.#

20.#See#John#Dixon#Hunt,#“Ruskin#and#the#Picturesque,”#in#Gardens$and$the$Picturesque:$Studies$in$the$History$of$Landscape$Architecture#(Cambridge,#Mass.:#The#MIT#Press,#1992),#and#idem,#The$Wider$Sea:$A$Life$of$John$Ruskin#(London:#J.#M.#Dent,#1982).#

21.#I#have#argued#elsewhere#that#aesthetic#disgust#is#a#concept#in#picturesque#discourse#that#is#crucial#to#it’s#political#

interpolation.#See#“The#Butchers#Shop:#Disgust#in#picturesque#Aesthetics#and#Architecture,”#Assemblage#30#(April#1996):#32H43.#

22.#“So#it#is#with#most#of#the#pieces#which#the#painters#call#still#life:#in#these#a#cottage,#dung#hill,#the#meanest#and#most#

ordinary#utensils#of#the#kitchen,#are#capable#of#giving#us#pleasure”#(Edmund#Burke,#A#Philosophical$Enquiry$into$the$Origin$of$Our$Ideas$of$the$Sublime$and$Beautiful,#pt.#1,#sec.#16;#as#quoted#in#Price,#Essays#on#the#Picturesque,#3:324).#23.#This#is#my#gloss#of#a#discussion#of#picturesque#physiognomy#in#Price,#Essays$on$the$Picturesque,#1:#189H203.#24.#It#seems#likely#that#Ruskin#had#read#Price#given#his#upbringing#in#the#picturesque#and#the#fame#of#Price’s#text.#

George#Landow#points#out#that#there#is#evidence#that#he#at#least#intended#to#do#so.#In#the#manuscript#notes,#Ruskin#lists#

Price#under#“works#to#be#seen”#(8:235).#See#Landow,#The$Aesthetic$and$Critical$Theories,#221H22.#25.#Although#the#notes#are#certainly#equivocal.#Elizabeth#Helsinger#thinks#that#they#are#Ruskin’s#attempt#to#write#on#

horror#as#part#of#his#reintroduction#of#the#sublime#as#a#central#aesthetic#category#in#volumes#one#and#five#of#Modern$Painter.#See#Helsinger,#Ruskin$and$the$Art$of$the$Beholder,#129.#26.#My#italics.#Also#“the#person#originally#capable#of#delight#in#terror#remains#for#ever#distinct#from#the#commonplace#

person#originally#incapable#of#it.”#

27.#It#is#possible#that#this#passage#borrows#its#motifs#from#Thomas#Carlyle’s#Past$and$Present#(London:#J.#M.#Dent,#1960)#

where,#in#the#introduction,#Carlyle#looks#into#a#picturesque#view#of#a#workhouse#and#indigent#men#to#see#them#revealed#

to#him#as#skeltons.#This#is#noted#by#Helsinger,#Ruskin$and$the$Art$of$the$Beholder,#154.#Thanks#Karen#Burns.#28.#See#Heinrich#Wolfflin,#Principles$of$Art$History:$The$Problem$of$the$Development$of$style$in$Later$Art$(New#York:#Dover,#195),#Nikolaus#Pevsner,#Studies$in$Art$Architecture$and$Design$(London:#Thames#and#Hudson,#1968),#Susan#

Sontag,#On$Photography#(New#York:#Delta,#1973),#Robert#Smithson,#The$Writings$of$Robert$Smithson,#ed.#Nancy#Holt#(New#York:#New#York#University#Press,#1979,#and#YveHAlain#Bois,#“A#Picturesque#Stroll#around#ClaraRClara,”#in#October:$The$First$Decade#(Cambridge,#Mass.:#The#MIT#Press,#1987),#342H72.#

#

Figure#Credits#

1H4.The$Works$of$John$Ruskin,#ed.#E.#T.#Cook#and#Alexander#Wedderburn,#39#vols.#(London:#George#Allen,#1903H12).#