The Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows by John Constable

Painted in 1831, one of Constable’s grandest compositions is largely made up of humble items lie a little river, some bits of a broken fence, undergrowth, cumulus clouds and a willow. In the distance one sees the spire of Salisbury Cathedral rising to the heavens, a rainbow arching above it. Critics say the feel the painting exudes is a result of how Constable wanted to exemplify a very British attitude; the careful, objective observation of the natural world while combining a clearly poetic reverence for it.

Once looking a bit closer, the observer is struck by the amount of symbolism within. Some art historians say that the painting is a personal statement about Constable’s turbulent emotions and his ever-changing states of mind. There are also political meanings possibly connected to the work, one theory being that the artist wished to express the clash of industrialization and nature and that he chose to do this by representing them through the clash of elements. Curious elements within the painting are the grave marker: (a symbol of death?), the ash tree (a symbol of life?), the church itself (a symbol of faith and resurrection?) and the rainbow (a symbol of renewed optimism?).

Whatever the interpretation, Constable exhibited the painting at the Royal Academy in 1831 but continued to work on it during the years 1833 and 1834. One of his last major landscapes, it is represents the culmination of his numerous treatments of Salisbury Cathedral. Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from the River, for instance, was painted about a decade earlier around 1820. But on his final two visits to Salisbury in 1829, Constable decided to undertake his most impressive image of the subject and the result is Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows. The finished work is in a private collection but is currently on loan to the National Gallery in London.

Popularity: 20% [?]