The Story Behind the Picture of the Praying Hands
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Back in the fifteenth century near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. In
order to keep food on the table for this mob, the father, a goldsmith worked eighteen
hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.
Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer the Elder's children had
a dream. They wanted to pursue their talent for art, but knew their father would never be
financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.
After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys worked out a pact.
They would toss a coin. The loser would go into the nearby mines and, with his earnings,
support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the
toss completed his studies, he would support the other brother at the academy, with sales
of his art or if necessary, by laboring in the mines. They tossed a coin on a Sunday after
church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg.
Albert went into the dangerous mines and for the next four years financed his brother,
whose work at the academy was an immediate sensation. Albrecht's etchings were better than
those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn
considerable fees for his commissioned works.
When the young artist returned, the Durer family held a dinner to celebrate. After a
memorable meal with music and laughter, Albrecht rose to drink a toast to his beloved
brother for the years of sacrifice that enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition.
"And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, it is your turn. Now you can go to
Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you." All heads turned
to Albert, tears streaming down his face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while
he sobbed "No ...no...no."
Finally, Albert rose. He glanced down the table at the faces he loved, and then, holding
his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, "No, brother. It is too
late for me. Look ... look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones
in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from
arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast,
much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother...
for me it is too late."
More than 450 years have passed. Albrecht Durer's hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and
silver-point sketches, watercolors, and copper engravings hang in every great museum, but
the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht
Durer's works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a
reproduction hanging in your home or office.
To pay homage to Albert for all that he sacrificed, Albrecht drew his brother's abused
hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful
drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost immediately opened their
hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love
"The Praying Hands."
The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your
reminder, if you still need one, that no one - no one ever makes it alone!
