Hi Alan! Welcome to wiki!
- Important (small) point- add your comments at the foot of the discussion page, not the top. The editor previous to you is also faily new at this and hhad made the same error.
So the comment about Gothic architecture being dark was so old that the article has been completely rewritten (by me) since then, and no longer describes Gothic architecture as "dark".
As for Ruskin, I've left a comment under yours on the discussion page. Basically, this article deals with ancient Gothic architecture, the style, the development etc. There is a brief section on its revival, with links to the article that deals expressly with that subject and discusses the role of Ruskin.
I personally don't think that Ruskin's early 19th century description of Gothic as "rude and severe" has relevance to the actualities of Gothic architecture, although it has relevance to a description of how a 19th century person viewed such buildings. Other writers of different periods might use entirely different words such as "refined and decorative". Or, famously, "fairest and goodliest", (Elizabeth I).
Check out the article Gothic Revival to see how it deals with Ruskin.
--Amandajm 08:30, 16 August 2007 (UTC)