Where Is The Great Piece of Turf? See It at Albertina

Q: Where is The Great Piece of Turf?

You can see it at Albertina in Vienna, Austria. This watercolor and gouache on paper work is part of their permanent collection. Albrecht Dürer created it around 1503.

Q: What plants are shown?

The patch includes dandelions, yarrow, meadow grass, and plantain. Dürer rendered each species accurately enough for botanical identification. The Great Piece of Turf (Das große Rasenstück) shows a patch of meadow grass at close range, each blade and plantain leaf painted individually.

Q: Why is a patch of grass significant?

Dürer's serious treatment of ordinary vegetation was radical. He insisted that humble subjects deserved the same artistic attention as noble ones. This watercolor and gouache on paper work dates to 1503.

Q: How big is the painting?

The watercolor measures 41 × 31.5 cm (16.1 × 12.4 inches). The substantial size allowed life-size depiction of the plants This work dates to 1503.

The Great Piece of Turf (Das große Rasenstück) shows a patch of meadow grass at close range, each blade and plantain leaf painted individually. Created in 1503 by Albrecht Dürer, this watercolor transforms humble vegetation into a subject worthy of serious artistic attention. The low viewpoint places the viewer at ground level, eye-to-eye with dandelions and yarrow.

Dürer's nature studies represented a radical approach to observing the natural world. Rather than using nature merely as background, he examined it with the same attention given to human subjects. The Great Piece of Turf anticipates modern ecological thinking in its insistence that ordinary plants deserve careful study.

The watercolor is at the Albertina in Vienna.

You can see it at Albertina in Vienna, Austria. This watercolor and gouache on paper work is part of their permanent collection. Albrecht Dürer created it around 1503.

The patch includes dandelions, yarrow, meadow grass, and plantain. Dürer rendered each species accurately enough for botanical identification. The Great Piece of Turf (Das große Rasenstück) shows a patch of meadow grass at close range, each blade and plantain leaf painted individually.

Dürer's serious treatment of ordinary vegetation was radical. He insisted that humble subjects deserved the same artistic attention as noble ones. This watercolor and gouache on paper work dates to 1503.

The watercolor measures 41 × 31.5 cm (16.1 × 12.4 inches). The substantial size allowed life-size depiction of the plants This work dates to 1503.

The Great Piece of Turf

Details

Where to See It

The Artist

More by Albrecht Dürer

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Portrait of Albrecht Dürer the Elder

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About The Great Piece of Turf

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