This book traces the evolution of Ruskin’s thinking on decay across the breadth and depth of his aesthetic, social and critical thought, providing a new perspective on the complex terrain of his architectural and landscape theory.

Ideas of decay are consistent across Ruskin’s work, from his thoughts on the laws of nature and material form, to his critiques of Victorian moral and spiritual values. The book argues that Ruskin envisioned a world where material and symbolic expressions like buildings and mountains were intended and designed to decay, proffering moral instruction rather than visual titillation. While expanding on Ruskin’s thought, the book explores the broader nineteenth-century debates that shaped his thinking on decay. In an era of competing and contradictory thought, Ruskin aimed to humanize the relationship between the build and natural environment, an endeavour still prescient today.

This book is ideal reading for researchers and students in Victorian Art, Art Theory, Architectural History, and philosophy.