<DIV><DIV>In 1849, and again in 1852, the celebrated art critic John Ruskin took his young wife Effie to Venice. While he was busy writing books that were to define the Victorian ideal, Effie explored Venice with growing freedom and independence of thought. Her letters home, discovered and edited by biographer Mary Lutyens, are an enchanting evocation of a special moment in the history of Venice as well as the history of art.</DIV></DIV>