The Great Piece of Turf

HUM 1020- Art Appreciation

March 15, 2014

The artwork that I chose to write about is The Great Piece of Turf, 1503 by Albrecht Durer (Sayre, pg 41)

If a person would take time to examine and think about the things they hurry past in life, they may discover something else new and wonderful. In this picture, there is a small clump of weeds, flowers and grasses that would probably not even be noticed for its beauty and diversity by most people hurrying past it on a walk in the woods. But, if a person would, as the artist did, stop and observe and take a closer look at what first appeared to be a patch of weedy grass, just needing to be stepped over, you could see the great array of many types of flowery pieces of nature. The types of plants, which are in this little spread of the field, are “typically found at the edges of Franconian meadows of the German Rhineland in May.” (Sayre, page 41) This painting of such intricate detail portrays to me that the artist had a keen sense for intricate detail in nature, and probably in life. There are thin green pieces of weed that are full of life and thin tan weeds that appear to be dying. It seems as though the artist painted this picture on a dreary and somber day. Maybe this is how he felt or remembered this exquisite image in the meadow as he was painting it. The uses of light and dark in the ground area make it seem to me that it is marshy wet ground. This picture says to me that you can find something awesome and amazing and beautiful in the least likely place, if you stop, and look for it. This picture also begs the question “what else have you missed along the walk of life by not taking a minute to look closer?” I myself, like the artist Durer am always captivated and highly impressed by the intricate details in nature. So many different types of plants and flowers in one little spot, living and breathing and being all together in peace. If a little patch of nature can live in harmony maybe that patch is telling us people we should find a way to exist in better harmony with one another. This little patch of grassy, weedy flowers is a thing of great beauty. For those who believe that God created this world we live in, it seems to speak of the fact that He is indeed the master artist! This picture is mostly painted in shades of green. While I was looking at all the different little flowers and realized this, I remembered my dearly departed grandmother always saying, “Green is God’s color”. She said this because