Constable painted The wheatfield in 1816, the year that the enclosure of the common fields was introduced into Bergholt, together with more mercenary practices of farming, whereby the poor were prevented from collecting leftover ears of wheat after the harvest. In this painting Constable presented life before these changes. We see harvesters, gleaners, a boy with a dog and a distant ploughman – a traditional farming community working harmoniously together. The woman and two girls in the foreground are collecting the ears of wheat missed by the reapers. The boy with the dog is guarding the workers’ food and drink, which is draped in clothes to shade it from the sun. Although Constable referred to a number of sketchbook drawings when creating this work, he mostly painted it outdoors, during August of 1815. It is a painting that demonstrates his ability to capture the immediate sensations of light and atmosphere, and to paint with jewel-like precision. The detailed surface of this painting may be the result of criticism Constable received for his ‘unfinished’ works exhibited at this time. This painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1816 and at the British Institution the following year. Constable included a quotation from Robert Bloomfield’s The farmer’s boy with the catalogue entry: Nature herself invites the reapers forth No rake takes here what heaven to all bestows Children of want, for you the bounty flows! Bloomfield believed, as Constable most likely did, that it was good to be generous to the gleaners, to display Christian charity and to remember the fickleness of fortune. The idea that a nation’s countryside reflected its social and political state was common at this time. Scenes of husbandry and cultivation signified order and harmony, whereas wilderness reflected barbarity and anarchy. By making social, political and moral allusions Constable believed he was elevating his landscape painting to the status of history painting. Although the Napoleonic wars between England and France were coming to an end with the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, feelings of anxiety led a number of British artists to paint subjects of pastoral pleasure and a lifestyle threatened by imminent invasion. Activities • Look at how the illusion of depth is conveyed by the placement of figures along the diagonal. Use the zoom to examine the brushstrokes in detail. • By reading the entry for 1816 in the biographical summary find out more about the social implications of the enclosure policy.