Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Garden

In 1823 Constable finished a large view of Salisbury Cathedral for his close friend John Fisher, the bishop of Salisbury. Fisher was happy with all of it except the sky, where a heavy dark cloud sits over the spire, and he asked for another version with a calmer one. Constable took his time. He worked the replacement up at full size first, and this canvas is that full-scale version, painted around 1825. Fisher died in May 1825, before the picture he had asked for was delivered. The cathedral had been standing some 600 years by then, and its spire, at about 123 metres, was the tallest in England. Constable took the view from inside the bishop's own garden, with the trees of the close framing the spire.