Basin of San Marco, 1897. Moran's watercolour of Venice captures both the splendor of the city and the pathos of its fading glory. His interest in the subject was no doubt influenced by John Ruskin's famous book The Stones of Venice (1851-53), as well as by the paintings and watercolours of the British artist Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), whom Ruskin greatly admired.