The Weather Dating of John Constable's Cloud Studies

Abstract

The photograph on the preceding page, taken at infra-red wavelengths by the Very High Resolution Radiometer of the NOAA 5 Satellite at 1940 GMT on 16 September 1978, shows an intense swirl of cloud associated with a depression of 954 mb, situated near 64"N, 40"W on the corresponding 1800 GMT chart. The depression developed very rapidly as the circulation of an old hurricane (Flossie) moved north-east into the warm sector of a shallow wave on a vigorous baroclinic zone. The developing low rapidly occluded, with the warm air of the hurricane being lifted into the extensive area of frontal cloud ahead of the system. The behaviour of the low, despite the rapid distortion of the thermal steering pattern by the intense circulation, was anomalous in that its track curved anticyclonically (to the right), symptomatic of the warm-core origin of the system.Very strong winds were a feature of the low with steady winds up to 70 knots affecting ships and exposed islands to the north of Scotland. The maximum reported gusts from anemograph stations were 87 knots at Kirkwall Airport in the Orkney Islands and 84 knots at Lerwick in the Shetlands.The main feature of the pattern over the UK, shown mostly cloud-covered at the bottom of the picture, is the cloud associated with the trailing cold front. To the south of the front a very strong temperature inversion in the warm sector was associated with a layer of stratocumulus which is breaking up into lee-wave billows downstream of the higher ground of Wales.Land features of interest are the darker (warmer) patches associated with the conurbations of London and Paris and the Seine valley. Notice also the dark streak of the Rhine valley at lower right.

Luke Howard's Influence on Art and Literature in the Early Nineteenth Century*

“…It is not clear, however, when Constable made these annotations but certainly in 1821/22 he would be searching for ideas and an understanding as to how clouds are formed in order to help his painting of clouds during his 'skying' period. These and other influences are discussed in Thornes (1979b). Ludlam (1972) showed that Shelley's knowledge of meteorology was much more accurate than even King-Hele (1970) had proposed.…”

A Machine Learning Paradigm for Studying Pictorial Realism: How Accurate are Constable's Clouds?

“…There is general arthistorical agreement that Constable's painted clouds became more life-like around this time (Fig. 1) [1], [2]. The significance of this period of concentrated effort has been debated [2], [3], [4].…”

“…But there is no evidence that Constable possessed Howard's typology, and the artist's extant correspondence makes no direct reference to Howard [12]. More recent scholars tend to cite instead Constable's dedication to sustained periods of empirical observation of clouds [1], [5] and his familiarity with earlier paintings of naturalistic landscapes by artists like Claude Lorrain or Willem van de Velde the Younger, both of whom were well represented in English art collections during Constable's lifetime [12], [13]. In addition, a Romantic explanation for Constable's naturalism likewise persists in the scholarly literature to this day, attributing his naturalism at least in part to an emotional or spiritual impulse toward accuracy in his depictions of natural phenomena [2].…”

Cloud Classification Before Luke Howard

“…Forster's first edition quickly sold out and in 1815 a second edition was given a much larger printing. It was this edition that came to the attention of John Constable in 1821, inspired him to execute a series of cloud studies, and caused him to change the manner in which he painted the sky (Thornes 1979). Turner's cloud studies, which date to 1817, may also have been directly inspired by Forster's book.…”