The Touching Tale Of The Praying Hands

In the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, Germany, lived a family with 18 children. Yes, eighteen! To put food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by trade, worked nearly 18 hours a day at his trade, as well as any other paying job he could find in the neighborhood.

Despite their seemingly hopeless situation, Albrecht and Albert, two of the older children, had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they were well aware that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to an art 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 to the nearby mines and use his earnings to support his brother, who would attend the academy.

Then, after four years, when the brother who won the coin toss finished his studies, he in turn would support the mining brother to also attend the academy – either by selling his artwork or, if necessary, by working in the mines.

They tossed a coin one Sunday morning. Albrecht Dürer won the toss and went to Nuremberg to study art. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and spent the next four years financing his brother, whose creative work at the academy was almost immediately a sensation.

Albrecht’s etchings, woodcuts, and oils were far superior to those of most of his fellow students and even his professors, and by the time he graduated he was beginning to earn substantial fees for his commissioned works.

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