Writer and art critic, born in London, England, UK. He studied at Oxford, and after graduating met Turner, and championed his painting in his first critical work, Modern Painters (1843 - 60). This book, along with The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1848) and The Stones of Venice (1851 - 1853), made him the Critic of the day, and his social criticism gave him the status of a moral guide or prophet. Unto This Last (1860) is said to have influenced Gandhi. He became professor of fine art at Oxford in 1870 and founded several educational institutions. His last work was an unfinished autobiography, Praeterita (1886-1888).