John Constable's cloud studies perfectly demonstrate the epistemological concerns of nineteenth-century Realism. Constable noted location, time, and meteorological conditions on many of his studies. The cloud studies' basis in the direct observation of specific clouds is irrefutable. Yet, the very nature of clouds makes the exercise of painting them faithfully from nature impossible. An intriguing (and contested) explanation for the striking naturalism of Constable's clouds was put forward by Kurt Badt in his 1950 book, John Constable's Clouds. If computer vision can point toward avenues for further inquiry - in this case, ongoing transnational research on European art around 1800 and a reconsideration of Constable not just as a precursor to modernism and impressionism but as a culminating painter of the eighteenth century - its use as a complement to existing techniques of art historical analysis has arrived.