Albrecht Dürer
(1471–1528)

Albrecht DurerAnecdote...

The story is told that Dürer and another struggling young artist named Franz Knigstein worked together as miners to earn money for their art studies. But this hard labor left them little time to study art. They decided to draw lots: One of them would continue to study full-time while the other worked to support him until he became a successful artist who would then be able to support the other in his studies.

Dürer won. After he became a famous artist, he returned to keep his part of the agreement. By then, however, the years of hard labor had caused his friend's hands to become twisted and gnarled, and he could no longer use them for the delicate brush strokes of an artist. Franz told Dürer that he was happy that his labor had helped to produce such a great artist.

Dürer looked at the hands that had supported him all those years, and sketched them. The sketch —the "Praying Hands."

Albrecht Dürer's sketch of praying hands


Biographical Note...

German painter, printmaker, draughtsman and art theorist, generally regarded as the greatest German Renaissance artist.


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Albrecht Dürer Self-Portrait

Also known as Self Portrait at Twenty-Eight Years Old Wearing a Coat with Fur Collar (1500), this is painted on a wood panel. It is widely considered his pre-eminent self-portrait.