The Stones of Venice is a three-volume treatise on Venetian art and architecture by English art historian John Ruskin. First published from 1851 to 1853, the book examines the architecture of Venice in detail, providing a general history of the city as well. Ruskin intended to prove how the architecture exemplified the principles he discussed in his earlier work, The Seven Lamps of Architecture. The Stones of Venice aroused considerable interest in Victorian Britain and beyond and is considered one of the most influential books of the 19th century.