The Lower Cascade, Rydal

This drawing was made during Constable's visit to the Lake District in I806 when he was staying with John Harden, an amateur artist of talent, at Brathay Hall on Lake Windermere, The Abbot Hall Gallery already possessed a large number of drawings by Harden and published a book about him in 1974. Constable's visit to the Lake District lasted seven weeks and was the last journey he undertook specifically for the purpose of sketching and collecting material for paintings. He made a large number of drawings, but the solitude of the mountains depressed him and the journey found few reflections in his later work.