John Constable was one of the foremost English landscape painters of the 19th century. Nearly all of his works, including this one, are informed by a fascination with changeable atmospheric conditions. Apart from his native East Anglia, Wiltshire and the Lake District, Constable traveled little and never left England. He loved Salisbury and frequently painted the graceful spire of its medieval cathedral, which can be seen on the far right side of this painting.

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