‘Natural Philosophy’ And Constable’s Painting Experiments

This thesis explores a painting concept summarized by the British landscape painter John Constable（1776-1837）in his later years on two interlaced paths of cultural significance and artistic practice.He said: "Painting is a science,and should be pursued as an inquiry into the laws of nature.Why,then,may not landscape painting be considered as a branch of natural philosophy,of which pictures are but the experiments?" This thesis aims to reveal the conceptual structure represented by this passage,as well as the way in which the painter put the concept into practice.The focus of discussion is on the relationship between the two,but rather it is on the latter’s role in promoting the former,that is,the way of thinking in painting language.Because of this,in the context of the painter’s artistic pursuit,that he described painting as a science and landscape painting as a branch of natural philosophy deserves our attention.