This is a clay replica of the original drawing, Hands, by Albrecht Durer.

Albrecht and Albert Durer were two brothers who both wanted to study at the Art Academy at Nuremberg but they knew that their Father could not afford to send either one of them to the Academy. The two brothers decided to toss a coin and agreed that the loser would go down into the nearby mines and with his earnings support his brother for four years. After completing his studies the winning brother would then support the losing brother while he attended the Art Academy.

Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremburg and his work at the Art Academy became an immediate sensation. Upon his return a festive dinner was offered in honor of his homecoming and as Albrecht rose from his honored position to drink a toast to his beloved brother, Albert, for his years of sacrifice that had enabled him to fulfill his ambition ended his toast by saying, “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.” Tears streaming down his pale face, Albert shook his lowered head while sobbing and holding his hands close to his right cheek said softly, “No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me after working for four years in the mines the bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and they are suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast. No, brother … for me it is too late.”

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.”