Large Piece of Turf by Albrecht Durer

The Large Piece of Turf by Albrecht Durer, 1503, is a large watercolor and gouache still life drawing of a section of soil with plants, weeds and grass rendered in precise, naturalistic detail. Along with Leonardo da Vinci, Durer was among the first artists to make such in-depth studies of landscape and the natural world, which here elevates a commonplace subject matter to the status of high art. Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a German painter of the Northern Renaissance whose work as an engraver, printmaker, mathematician and theorist secured his reputation as one of the greatest artists of Europe. His many paintings, portraits, altarpieces, watercolors, and engravings were the first in the Northern Renaissance to use classical motifs from antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. Durer’s unparalleled skill in drawing and engraving as well as mastery of perspective allowed him rapid execution of a range of motifs which elicit universal admiration to this day.