Salisbury Cathedral from the Close thumbnail 1
Salisbury Cathedral from the Close thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Paintings, Room 88, The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries

Salisbury Cathedral from the Close

Oil Painting
1820 August (painted)
Artist/Maker
Constable, John (RA) (artist)
Place of origin
Great Britain (painted)

The Bishop of Salisbury commissioned Constable to paint a view in the grounds of his house. This is one of several oil sketches that Constable made in preparation for the painting.


Object details

Category
Paintings
Object type
Oil painting
TitleSalisbury Cathedral from the Close (popular title)
Materials and techniques
oil on canvas
Oil Paint
Canvas
Oil Painting
Brief description
Oil painting, 'Salisbury Cathedral from the Close', John Constable, 1820
Physical description
Painting of Salisbury Cathedral and the close.
Note taken from Reynolds :
The view is probably taken from the Bishops's garden.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 25.1cm
  • Estimate width: 30.2cm
  • Frame height: 45cm
  • Frame width: 50cm
  • Frame depth: 4cm
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973
Style
British School
Marks and inscriptions
'Close Salisbury Augst. 1820.' (Inscribed in pencil on the top of the stretcher)
Credit line
Given by Isabel Constable
Object history
Given by Isabel Constable, 1888
Historical context
In 1820 Constable exhibited at the Royal Academy 'Stratford Mill' (now in the collection of Sir Reginald Macdonald-Buchanan) and 'A View of Harwich Lighthouse' (see No. 142 [302-1888] above).
He stayed with Fisher at Salisbury in July and August, settled his wife and children at Hampstead by 1 September, and paid a brief visit to Malvern Hall.

[G Reynolds, 1973, p. 127]
Place depicted
Salisbury Cathedral
Summary
The Bishop of Salisbury commissioned Constable to paint a view in the grounds of his house. This is one of several oil sketches that Constable made in preparation for the painting.
Bibliographic references
  • Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973, pp. 127, 131
  • Timothy Wilcox, Constable and Salisbury. The Soul of Landscape London: Scala Publishers Ltd, 2011. ISBN: 978 1 85759 678 6.
  • p. 91 David Jackson, Werner Busch, Jenny Reynaerts, Andreas Blühm, and Ruud Schenk Romanticism in the North : from Friedrich to Turner. Groningen : Groninger Museum ; Zwolle : WBooks, [2017]. ISBN: 9789462582415
Other number
196, plate 156 - Reynolds catalogue no.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
318-1888

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Record createdJuly 24, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O82677/salisbury-cathedral-from-the-close-oil-painting-constable-john-ra/
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