Ruskin, John: The elements of drawing: in three letters to beginners (London, 1857)

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THE ELEMENTS OF DRAWING. [letter hi.

passing on in delicate shadows under the arches,
not easily shown in so rude a diagram, towards
the other extremity of the bridge. This is a most
important curve, indicating that the force and
sweep of the river have indeed been in old times
under the large arches; while the antiquity of the
bridge is told us by the long tongue of land, either
of carted rubbish, or washed down by some minor
stream, which has interrupted this curve, and is
now used as a landing-place for the boats, and
for embarkation of merchandise, of which some
bales and bundles are laid in a heap, immediately
beneath the great tower. A common composer would
have put these bales to one side or the other, but
Turner knows better ; he uses them as a foundation
for his tower, adding to its importance precisely as
the sculptured base adorns a pillar; and he farther
increases the aspect of its height by throwing the
reflection of it far down in the nearer water. All
the great composers have this same feeling about
sustaining their vertical masses: you will constantly
find Prout using the artifice most dexterously (see,