Landscape Shared

The view across the water meadows to the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral is renowned, and immortalised through the paintings of 19th century landscape artist John Constable.

So what better inspiration could I have this time of year when choosing my subject for a personalised Christmas card.

The fabulous Gothic cathedral, reputed to have the tallest spire in England makes an idyllic setting, and an appropriate topic for my Blipfoto of the day.

The artist John Constable was drawn back to the cathedral time and again in the early 19th century and painted several landscapes looking across the meadows to the celebrated cathedral. Today, for the photographer, or indeed the artist, the overall impression which so attracted Constable remains very much as it was then. His patron was Dr John Fisher who became Bishop of Salisbury.

To the keen eye, additional buildings now merge into the landscape, though scarcely intrude.

The high point is still the spire, which with the tower is a little over 400 ft high, and among stone cathedral spires across Europe, is second only to the cathedral at Strasbourg at 466 ft.

Who knows whether I have the same vision of the cathedral when looking through the camera viewfinder as Constable did all those years ago when making his sketches and subsequent oil paintings. In any event, it is my satisfying choice for our Christmas card.