The Great Piece of Turf
1503 · Watercolour and gouache on paper · Albertina, Vienna
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About this work
- Artist
- Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528)
- Year
- 1503
- Medium
- Watercolour and gouache on paper
- Original size
- 40.8 × 31.5 cm
- Collection
- Albertina, Vienna
- Movement
- Northern Renaissance
A clump of meadow plants is seen close up and from ground level, as if by a small animal: stalks of grass rising to seed heads, dandelions, broad plantain leaves and a strip of damp earth with roots exposed at the bottom, all against bare paper. Dürer painted the study in watercolour and bodycolour in Nuremberg in 1503, the year after the Young Hare. The plants are those of late April or early May. It is one of his most important plant studies, made not as a sketch but as a carefully built picture, mixing broad washes with fine brushwork and occasional pen; no earlier artist had made an ordinary patch of grass the whole subject of a work. Scholars note that some of its plants recur in his paintings, although it is not certain the sheet served as a model. It belongs to the Albertina in Vienna and, like the Young Hare, is shown only occasionally because watercolour fades in light.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A close tangle of green grasses, dandelions and plantain leaves on pale paper, fresh and quiet, for a kitchen, garden room or bathroom at 16×24 in natural wood. A sage, white or pale stone wall; it pairs with Irises.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Northern Renaissance painting
- Era
- 16th century (1503)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- kitchen, bathroom, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; natural wood lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Great Piece of Turf in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Great Piece of Turf painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
