The Fine Art collection at Dorset County Museum consists of a diverse range of visual materials that reflect the evolution of an art collection acquired over the last 150 years. Containing works dating from the seventeenth century to the present day, it shows Dorset's history, people, natural history and landscape. Dorset has long been a source of artistic inspiration and attracted visiting artists such as John Constable, Paul Nash and Frederick Whitehead. The oil painting collection is strong in portraits that reflect the people who have shaped the county. The nineteenth- and twentieth-century landscapes reveal the rolling downs, views of the River Frome and Dorset's Jurassic coastline.