A bust of John Ruskin, on display in the Ashmolean Museum
A website which has reunited John Ruskin's extensive collection of drawings, manuscripts and photographs with his comments and instructions to students as an Oxford University professor has been put online by the Ashmolean Museum and the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art. 'The Elements of Drawing: John Ruskin's teaching collection at Oxford' has digitized Ruskin's collections, which are kept at the Ashmolean Museum's print room, with high quality 'zoomable' photography. The website, which was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, virtually recreates Ruskin's original arrangement of the collection, which was lost when the works were dispersed in the 20th century, and allows users to browse the collection's highlights or search for specific works. There is also a learning section which includes a video drawing course and a series of objects from the collection chosen and explained by academics. Dr Christopher Brown, director of the Ashmolean, said: 'The Elements of Drawing website provides a fantastic new resource for scholars, artists and the general public. It marks a further stage, following the launch of Eastern Art Online in February last year, in the Ashmolean's ongoing project to publish online collections using the highest possible quality of design, photography and evolving digital technology. John Ruskin is a key figure in the development of artistic teaching and practice and was the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford, establishing his Drawing School in 1871.
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