Large Turf Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)

Description of Albrecht Dürer’s painting A Piece of Turf

A true explorer of flora and fauna as well as an ardent admirer of Renaissance art theory, Albrecht Dürer was considered a painter. The painter was always passionate about describing his life, all aspects of family life. All of this was described in his diary, which was dedicated to a trip to Holland.

Dürer was born in Germany, in Nuremberg. The talent grew and developed under the influence of his father (a Hungarian jeweler), godfather Koberg (a former jeweler who took up publishing), and a close friend Wilibald Pirkheimer (a humanist who managed to introduce the young man to the works of Italian Renaissance masters).

In 1503 Albrecht Dürer began to paint marvelous watercolor sketches of plants and animals. The most famous of his works in this series is "A Piece of Turf". It was originally intended that this sketch would serve as a study for a larger work. However, it was not to be. "Piece of Turf" became famous on its own. The artist succeeded in subtly capturing all the peculiarities of the vegetation. Using different shades of green, all the plants in the picture, the famous painter Dürer depicted as accurately and carefully as possible. He painstakingly painted every leaf, every stalk.

Up until now it had never occurred to anyone to paint individual natural motifs, no one paid attention to the wild grasses underfoot. Albrecht Dürer was one of the first artists in Europe who was not afraid to experiment with watercolor (a new material for artists).