Study of ivy - Hedera helix; with rocks and mosses
John Ruskin
After 1872
Watercolour on paper, with touches of bodycolour over graphite
H 455 mm x W 347 mm
© British Museum
Inscribed on verso: "Study of ivy - Coniston"
Ruskin loved ivy and encouraged aspiring artists to study the way it runs up tree trunks: "In woods, one or two trunks, with the flowery ground below, are at once the richest and easiest kind of study: a not very thick trunk, say nine inches or a foot in diameter, with ivy running up it sparingly, is an easy, and always a rewarding subject" (109). The ivy here is growing up a mossy boulder, with signs of fissures and weathering, but the central trail of ivy is still the main focus.