In 1869 Ruskin was appointed the Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford. His inaugural lectures, delivered between February 8th and March 23rd of 1870, focused on the limits and elementary practice of art, and were published in book form later that year. In the lectures, Ruskin offers his keen insights on art and its relation to religion, morality, and every day life, as well as a detailed analysis on the meaning of line, light, and color. Ruskin later called the lectures his most important piece of literary work.