He had been asked, rather pointedly, by the National Gallery Commission, whether he had seen the great German museums, and had been obliged to reply that he had not.

Perhaps it occurred to him or to his father that he ought to see the pictures at Berlin and Dresden and Munich, even though he heartily disliked the Germans with their art and their language and everything that belonged to them,--except Holbein and Duerer.

By the end of July the travellers were in North Switzerland; and they spent September in Savoy, returning home by October 7th.
Old Mr.Ruskin was now in his seventy-fifth year and his desire was to see the great work finished before he died.

There had been some attempt to write this last volume of "Modern Painters" in the previous winter, but it had been put off until after the visit to Germany had completed a study of the great Venetian painters--especially Titian and Veronese.
Now at last, in the autumn of 1859, he finally set to work on the writing.
The assertion of Turner's genius had been necessary in 1843, but Turner was long since dead; his fame was thoroughly vindicated; his bequest to the nation dealt with, so far as possible.

Early Christian Art was recognised--almost beyond its claims.