Albrecht Dürer's 'Great Piece of Turf', painted in watercolour and gouache on vellum in 1503, is a close-up study of an ordinary patch of grass in northern Europe, observed as if from knee height. Dandelion, plantain, yarrow, creeping bent grass, and several other species are rendered with botanical precision from root to leaf-vein, making the modest tangle of weeds a philosophical statement: humble nature is worthy of the artist's full attention. Because of its extreme light-sensitivity, the drawing is only very rarely exhibited, with facsimiles displayed in its place.

Exhibition Venue

Albertina

Vienna, Austria