Synopsis
A study of Venetian architecture that becomes social criticism, linking the dignity of Gothic craft to the freedom and morality of its workers.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Public domainThe roughness of Gothic work is a virtue because it sprang from free craftsmen, whereas mechanical perfection enslaves the worker by denying him thought and joy in labor.
It judges art and economy together, treating how a society lets people work as a measure of its moral health.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations.
Reading note
Read 'The Nature of Gothic' chapter for the political argument; the wider work is sprawling Victorian art history.
Best paired with
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations