John Constable's 'Salisbury Cathedral'
a rather simple scene. Constable creates a sense of balance within the composition as the right side of the picture plane remains light whilst the left side is dominated by a darker palette; both sides are unified by the stream with the horse and cart occupying the central space as well as the rainbow which seemingly projects itself from the background upwards and into the foreground above the horse and cart. The overall element of balance again suggests an emphasise of a more egalitarian relationship between man and nature; the rainbow's encompassing most of the subjects within the composition which is mirrored by the circling stream, perhaps, hints at a Divine recognition of this harmony in light of the horrors of growing urban industrialisation.
John Constable's Salisbury Cathedral From The Meadows allows us a fresh view of the English landscape as we see a more realistic and unadulterated representation of the countryside that the earlier landscape conventions would not of necessarily allowed. Just as the Alp's symbolised to Wordsworth man's inability to conquer nature, the English countryside became Constable's parallel symbol of protest; the growing idea of the Romantic allowed both painters and poets a vein from which to express their growing sentiments of emotion against that of reason.
Further Reading:
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/con... This site offers a brief introduction to Constable's life and work.
http://sunsite.dk/cgfa/constabl/ This unassuming site includes thumbnail images and biographical information.
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/... This offers a reasonable amount of biographical information- it also includes links to information on quite a few artists.
Notes
1.) p. 4, Bloom 2.) p.81, Hill
Bibliography Harold Bloom and Lionel Trilling ed., Romantic Prose and Poetry, (Oxford University Press, London: 1973).
Hill, CP, British Economic and Social History: 1700-1982, (Hodder & Stoughton, London: 1989).
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