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John Ruskin (1819–1900)
Self-Portrait, in Blue Neckcloth
Watercolor and gouache
13 7/8 x 9 15/16 in. (353 x 253 mm)
Inscribed, in pencil, on verso, Di Pa by himself
Watermark: none visible
Gift of the Fellows; 1959.23
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This portrait probably was intended for the American scholar Charles Eliot Norton, whom Ruskin had met in 1856. Writing from Brantwood on 27 December 1872, Ruskin promised Norton two self-portraits. He then recorded in his diary that he had begun work on the portrait on 28 January 1873. However, the completed drawings remained at Brantwood. The inscription on the verso is in the hand of Ruskin's cousin, Joan Severn, who, along with her husband Arthur Severn, was living with Ruskin at Brantwood; it appears that the portrait was given to her.

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