A French town southeast of Lyon, Grenoble lies at the foot of Mont Rachais. Named for the Roman emporer Gratian, the oldest section of Grenoble lies cramped between the Isère River and the Grenoble Alps. Ruskin 's visit to Grenoble of 1845 is described in a letter to John James Ruskin ( Works, 36.42-43). He refers his father to a depiction of the Grenoble Alps by Turner.