![]() ![]() “ it (sacrifice) prompts us to the offering of precious things, merely because they are precious, not because they are useful or necessary.” Ruskin next proceeds to describe the act of sacrifice itself: What is architectural in a building surpasses its common use, to a great extent is unnecessary, rather is adornment, an offering or 'sacrifice' of what we find desirable. ![]() Good humanist stuff! He quickly goes on to make a distinction between architecture as an art and building as engineering. “ Architecture is the art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by man for whatsoever uses, that the sight of them contribute to his mental health, power, and pleasure.” Ruskin introduces his essay on the Lamp of Sacrifice with a definition: ![]() This work would establish the philosophical groundwork for what later became known as the Arts & Crafts movement in Britain and Ireland and the Craftsman Style in the United States. The 'Seven Lamps' represented seven moral virtues that imbued architecture and craft with meaning and goodness. Ruskin was a thoughtful man, considerate of nature, art, society and sensitive to the connections existing between them as expressed in good architecture. It can clearly be seen from his writings that Mr. I recently have enjoyed re-reading John Ruskin's extended essay, 'The Seven Lamps of Architecture'. ![]()
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