The Haywain

Timothy Cole after John Constable

National Gallery of Art

This is a print depicting a rural landscape scene from a slightly elevated point of view. The horizon line is placed slightly below the center of the print, where in the distance the sky meets the treetops past far-away fields. Closest to us is a body of water with some tall, leafy trees on the left behind a small cottage with a pointed roof. In the center, a horse-drawn cart is partially submerged in the shallow water, heading away from us towards the distant bank. On the cart are two people, one of whom holds a long, thin object. To the left, a dog stands by the water's edge, observing the cart. Another person is partially visible in the water by the cottage. Above the scene, the sky is filled with soft, fluffy clouds. The shapes in the print are made up of small dots and lines in black against the off-white paper, making some details hard to discern.