Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds

British landscape painter, John Constable was born and raised in Suffolk, England. Although at the beginning of his career, landscape painting was a low paid and disrespected career, Constable chose that path despite the indignation of his family and friends. He married Maria Bicknell in 1816 and supported her by painting portraits. His real interest however was in painting the landscape of his birthplace, an agricultural and therefore unpopular region for landscape subjects. After creating a series of six-foot wide landscapes, Constable was granted membership of the Royal Academy and won a gold medal at the Paris Salon.