“When did this love for ‘crumbling Venice’ begin, and why has it taken hold with such tenacity? By the time Victorian historian and art critic John Ruskin encountered the city in the 1840s, he thought Venice was so neglected that she might melt into the lagoon ‘like a lump of sugar in hot tea.’ It’s true that Ruskin feared any further deterioration, but what appalled him to an even greater extent was any attempt to modernize the city.”