Landscape painting had been going on in various forms since the early 16th century, the acknowledged master being the French painter Claude Lorrain. Two hundred years after Claude, though, Constable's work represents a new departure in the painting of the natural world, with the emphasis on realism rather than an idealised vision. He paints with heavily loaded brushstrokes, and isn't afraid to use vivid colours where tradition had favoured more muted tones.

For these innovative qualities, Constable was much admired by painters of the Barbizon School in France, forerunners of the Impressionists, and also by his great English contemporary, Turner. If there is an air of timelessness about The Hay Wain, appearances are not necessarily deceptive. The little patch of East Anglia it depicts is still pretty much unchanged today.