Salisbury Cathedral and Leadenhall from the River Avon
- Artist: John Constable
- Date: 1820
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the Salisbury Cathedral and Leadenhall from the River Avon by John Constable. Painted in 1820, this oil sketch captures a beautiful summer's day in Salisbury, England. The view is from the further bank of the River Avon, looking east across the meadows and the backs of houses in the Close surrounding the spired Cathedral.
Constable was visiting Salisbury with his family at the time, staying with his friend Archdeacon John Fisher in Leadenhall on the right-hand side of the painting. You can see the warm buff-coloured ground showing through the paint in many places, giving a sense of spontaneity and freshness to the scene.
Note how the figures on the river meadows are captured in quick flicks and dashes of paint, revealing Constable's technique of working quickly outdoors. This oil sketch is quite large, and it's interesting to see how Constable used larger canvases during his visit to Salisbury, rather than his usual small paper or millboard.
This painting remained unsold at Constable's death but was later inherited by his daughter, Isabel.
See it in person
Salisbury Cathedral and Leadenhall from the River Avon hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
