Portraits of John Ruskin
Sir: For several years I have been attempting to trace the portraits of John Ruskin. The Library Edition of Ruskin's Works contains a catalogue of the portraits known to the editors in 1912. My researches have revealed the whereabouts of most of these portraits. In addition, many portraits un- known to Cook and Wedderburn have been dis- covered.
Among the portraits listed by Cook and Wedder- burn which have not, so far, turned up are the allegorical Thorn in the Foot, by James North- cote, 1822, showing a satyr pulling a thorn from the infant Ruskin's foot. This was sold at Sotheby's in 1931 and has since ',disappeared.' An oil portrait (131 in. x 10 in.) by Thomas Richmond shows the twenty-one-year-old Ruskin standing holding his gloves: his hat and umbrella are on a stone bench beside him. This portrait was in the possession of William Ward in 1912. Three other portrait heads were done by Thomas Richmond about 1857; two (WIC in oils one rife-sized and the other smaller,
and the third was a watercolour sketch for these portraits. • Other 'missing' portraits include a bust by A. Munro (1864), a plaster medallion by C. Ashmore (1875), a life-sized chalk drawing by E. W. Andrews (1877), a full-length watercolour drawing by Arthur Severn (c. 1877) and a bust by Benjamin Creswick (1877).
I would be delighted to hear from any of your readers who know the whereabouts of any of these portraits of John Ruskin.
Isle of Wight
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