THE STORY OF" THE PRAYING HANDS!"

 

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Many of us would have seen the picture of "The Praying Hands", 

also present in many Christian homes, 

but would almost certainly not have heard the moving story behind this popular picture. 

Here is the story.

 

THE STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE OF THE PRAYING HANDS  Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived  a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food  on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a  goldsmith by profession, worked almost 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 the elder children,  Albrecht and Albert, had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their  talent for art, but they knew full well that 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 finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would  go down 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, in four years, he would support the  other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or,  if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.  They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer  won the toss and went off to Nuremberg.  Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four  years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an  immediate sensation. Albrecht's etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils  were far 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 to his village, the Durer family held  a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant  homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and  laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the  table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice  that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words  were, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn.  Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care  of you."  All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where  Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head  from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, "No ..no  ...no ..no."  Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced  down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands  close to his right cheek, he said softly, "No, brother. I cannot go to  Nuremberg. 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. By now, Albrecht Durer's hundreds of  masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors,  charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great  museum in the world, 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.  One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed,  Albrecht Durer painstakingly 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,  that no one -    no one  - ever makes it alone!