1003 - Martin Wirth, Vall de Núria, high valley in the Catalan Pyrenees, mountain landscape, 2005

Martin Wirth, Vall de Núria, high valley in the Catalan Pyrenees, mountain landscape, 2005 (1939 – 2017 Ilsenburg), watercolour over pencil on paper, signed and dated (20)05 lower right, inscribed verso "Val de Nuria Katalonische Pyrenäen Urlaub 2005", view into a high valley with green slopes, a dark wooded ridge and blue mountain ranges in the distance, in the foreground rock slabs and tufts of grass with yellow and red flowers, good condition, image 30x40 cm (HxW) The Vall de Núria is a high valley of the Catalan Pyrenees in the municipality of Queralbs in the province of Girona, whose valley floor lies at around 2000 metres. No road leads up to it; since 1931 the Cremallera de Núria rack railway has served the valley from Ribes de Freser via Queralbs, alongside which the historic pilgrims' path remains. In the valley stands the sanctuary of the Mare de Déu de Núria, where the first Catalan Statute of Autonomy was drafted in 1931. In winter the valley operates a small ski area. This mountain landscape of southern Europe also belongs among the travel sheets of the Ilsenburg draughtsman Martin Wirth.