Best in Show
John Constable, Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, 1831 - The Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire
“After the death of his wife, John Constable went to stay in Salisbury with his friend and patron John Fisher who was the bishop of Salisbury and encouraged the artist to paint the magnificent cathedral as a way of coming to terms with his grief.
Constable had painted and made studies of the cathedral before but hadn’t previously produced an image on this six-foot scale.
There’s a lot of symbolism in the painting: the rainbow could be a homage to the bishop – who died before the work was completed – as it rests in what is now Leaden Hall in the cathedral close, formerly Fisher’s home.
Some observers point out that the climatic conditions captured make the rainbow impossible and that it was probably added purely as a sign of Constable’s spiritual reawakening after a period of intense sadness.
Similarly, the stormy skies could relate to either the artist’s unhappiness, or could be a portent of the Anglican church’s future set against the political and religious turmoil of the 1820s, depending on whose view you accept.
One thing appeared certain, however. We thought we would never see the painting in Salisbury again because when it came up for sale in 2011, we assumed it would disappear into private hands. But it was saved for the nation through a new partnership, Aspire, a group comprising Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales), the National Galleries of Scotland, Colchester and Ipswich Museums, Tate Britain and this museum, assisted by private and public funding.
Each institution is displaying the masterpiece in turn, encouraging audiences to explore Constable’s work in more detail.
At Salisbury Museum, we’re placing it firmly in its historical and artistic context by using it to show how Salisbury Cathedral and its environs have been depicted in art over the course of more than 300 years.
The show also notes the enormous impact that Constable had on other artists all over the world when he rather radically placed the building in an idealised landscape to convey extra meaning.
Other works on view, ranging from 17th-century etchings to 21st-century abstracts, include an impressionistic work by Kate Giles based on a Constable mezzotint that, while featuring the distinctive hay wain and tree, is a different take on this scene.
There’s also a striking charcoal image by Dennis Creffield, who was commissioned in 1985 by the arts council to draw every English cathedral.
Our museum is located opposite Salisbury cathedral, close to where Constable stayed, and the landscape hasn’t changed much. I walk past the building every day on my way into work and it never fails to surprise and inspire me.”
Joyce Paesen is an exhibitions officer at the Salisbury Museum in Wiltshire.
Interview by John Holt. Constable in Context: Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows in Perspective is at the Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire, until 25 March.
Constable had painted and made studies of the cathedral before but hadn’t previously produced an image on this six-foot scale.
There’s a lot of symbolism in the painting: the rainbow could be a homage to the bishop – who died before the work was completed – as it rests in what is now Leaden Hall in the cathedral close, formerly Fisher’s home.
Some observers point out that the climatic conditions captured make the rainbow impossible and that it was probably added purely as a sign of Constable’s spiritual reawakening after a period of intense sadness.
Similarly, the stormy skies could relate to either the artist’s unhappiness, or could be a portent of the Anglican church’s future set against the political and religious turmoil of the 1820s, depending on whose view you accept.
One thing appeared certain, however. We thought we would never see the painting in Salisbury again because when it came up for sale in 2011, we assumed it would disappear into private hands. But it was saved for the nation through a new partnership, Aspire, a group comprising Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales), the National Galleries of Scotland, Colchester and Ipswich Museums, Tate Britain and this museum, assisted by private and public funding.
Each institution is displaying the masterpiece in turn, encouraging audiences to explore Constable’s work in more detail.
At Salisbury Museum, we’re placing it firmly in its historical and artistic context by using it to show how Salisbury Cathedral and its environs have been depicted in art over the course of more than 300 years.
The show also notes the enormous impact that Constable had on other artists all over the world when he rather radically placed the building in an idealised landscape to convey extra meaning.
Other works on view, ranging from 17th-century etchings to 21st-century abstracts, include an impressionistic work by Kate Giles based on a Constable mezzotint that, while featuring the distinctive hay wain and tree, is a different take on this scene.
There’s also a striking charcoal image by Dennis Creffield, who was commissioned in 1985 by the arts council to draw every English cathedral.
Our museum is located opposite Salisbury cathedral, close to where Constable stayed, and the landscape hasn’t changed much. I walk past the building every day on my way into work and it never fails to surprise and inspire me.”
Joyce Paesen is an exhibitions officer at the Salisbury Museum in Wiltshire.
Interview by John Holt. Constable in Context: Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows in Perspective is at the Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire, until 25 March.