‘P. horrid place’. L’Emilia di John Ruskin (1845)

The terse statement which is in the title, attributed to Piacenza by the translator, is impressive for the reader and the traveler. John Ruskin advises against the Emilian territory; although hasty and contemptuous, the passage turns out to be an effective and opportune interlude. It is a well-known fact how important his Italian tours have been for his most famous writings, which are contemporary or slightly subsequent and had an extraordinary dissemination. The heartfelt and short letters to his parents not only favor a rapid and key estimation of the places he quotes but they also link to his manuscripts, diaries, travel notebooks, sketches and watercolors as essential sources for comparisons. It is interesting to grasp the appreciation of these places, as well as the interactions with the resident community and the local culture. It is a sort of introduction to the study of the coeval, or a little later, reception of the reflections found in his most popular written work