His architectural studies were the results of arduous observation of the details of Italian Gothic cathedrals, which demanded hours of climbing ladders and scaffolding. He illustrated most of his own books with meticulous drawings, and, after 1871 when he established in Orpington, Kent, a publishing house named for and operated by his longtime associate George Alien, he became his own publisher.
It is probable that Ruskin worked so hard because he combined a Puritan conscience with a love of beauty that was immediate and sensual. He passionately loved natural scenery and painting, but he believed that God did not approve of rich, idle young men who indulged their passions. He knew that if he were to enjoy his rapture of the eyes in this fallen world, he would have to labor and to do good works. He did both.
Ruskin was the only child of John James and Margaret Ruskin, a Scottish couple who had married late in life.
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