The background painting on this page is by the German painter Albrecht Dürer (1471 – 1528).

It’s from 1503 and the title of the painting is ”Das große Rasenstück” or ”The Large Turf”.

Das große Rasenstück

I decided that I wanted a real painting for the background, so I browsed around the web, came across this one and loved it instantly. It has amazing details in both color and perspective. And the colors made a nice palette for the rest of my design.

Considering the paintings’ year of origin, it’s incredibly modern looking!

It does have this special pre-renaissance or late medieval feel about it, though (those who read Foucault – ”The order of things” will probaby know what I mean). There’s something about the way the whole setting is illuminated that gives it a magical edge.

Here are some more pictures by Dürer:

“Porträt Albrecht Dürer der Ältere” (1490) is your typical 15th century portrait.

Porträt Albrecht Dürer der Ältere

Not too interesting. Rembrandt is the place to look for interesting portraits.

“Weiher im Walde” (1495) is more interesting:

Weiher im Walde

The brush strokes and colors remind me of van Gogh and at first glance one could easily read this picture into the present day debate about man-made pollution vs. Nature.

It looks almost like chimneys to the left sending agressive black smoke into the forrest to the right.

I love it when old works of art suddenly ressemble something that wasn’t around when they were made:

Or how about “Feldhase” (1502) – this could be an illustration in a modern encyclopedia. Very impressive and realistic! I could be fooled if someone told me it was 20th century:

Feldhase

“Melancholia I” (1514)  is much less naturalistic, but instead it has this almost Picasso-like avant garde quality about the composition – with its interwoven shapes and the twisted perspective. Quite impressive, I think:

Melancholia I

And here’s my personal favourite: “Rhinocerus” (1515).

I think the rhinos’ facual expression is priceless! (-:

Rhinocerus

“Wrap it up, dude! Nature calls …”

More about Albrecht Dürer:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_Dürer
• http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/durer/
• http://www.artchive.com/artchive/D/durer.html