(1849), _Stones of Venice_ (1851-1853), _Pre-Raphaelitism_, and numerous
lectures and essays, which gave him a place in the world of art similar to
that held by Matthew Arnold in the world of letters. In 1869 he was
appointed professor of art at Oxford, a position which greatly increased
his prestige and influence, not only among students but among a great
variety of people who heard his lectures and read his published works.
_Lectures on Art, Aratra Pentelici_ (lectures on sculpture), _Ariadne
Florentina_ (lectures on engraving), _Michael Angela and Tintoret, The Art
of England, Val d'Arno_ (lectures on Tuscan art), _St. Mark's Rest_ (a
history of Venice), _Mornings in Florence_ (studies in Christian art, now
much used as a guidebook to the picture galleries of Florence), _The Laws
of Fiesole_ (a treatise on drawing and painting for schools), _Academy of
Fine Arts in Venice, Pleasures of England_,--all these works on art show
Ruskin's literary industry. And we must also record _Love's Meinie_ (a
study of birds), _Proserpina_ (a study of flowers), _Deucalion_ (a study of
waves and stones), besides various essays on political economy which
indicate that Ruskin, like Arnold, had begun to consider the practical
problems of his age.

At the height of his fame, in 1860, Ruskin turned for a time from art, to
consider questions of wealth and labor,--terms which were used glibly by
the economists of the age without much thought for their fundamental
meaning. "There is no wealth but life," announced Ruskin,--"life, including
all its powers of love, of joy, and of admiration. That country is the
richest which nourishes the greatest number of noble and happy human
beings." Such a doctrine, proclaimed by Goldsmith in his _Deserted
Village_, was regarded as a pretty sentiment, but coming from one of the
greatest leaders and teachers of England it was like a bombshell. Ruskin
wrote four essays establishing this doctrine and pleading for a more
socialistic form of government in which reform might be possible. The
essays were published in the _Cornhill Magazine_, of which Thackeray was
editor, and they aroused such a storm that the publication was
discontinued. Ruskin then published the essays in book form, with the title
_Unto This Last_, in 1862. _Munera Pulveris_ (1862) was another work in
which the principles of capital and labor and the evils of the competitive
system were discussed in such a way that the author was denounced as a