Praying Hands (Dürer)

Praying Hands
German: Betende Hände
Betende Hände
Artist Albrecht Dürer
Year c. 1508
Type drawing
Dimensions 29.1 cm × 19.7 cm (11.5 in × 7.8 in)
Location Albertina, Vienna

Praying hands (German: Betende Hände), also known as Study of the Hands of an Apostle (German: Studie zu den Händen eines Apostels), is a pen-and-ink drawing by the German printmaker, painter and theorist Albrecht Dürer, executed c. 1508. The artwork is stored at Albertina museum — Graphische Sammlung in Vienna, Austria. Dürer used white heightening technique and black ink on (self-made) blue colored paper. The drawing shows two male hands palm to palm praying, the body to the right (not seen). Also, the partly up-folded sleeves of the prayer are seen.

The drawing is a sketch (study) for an apostles' hand who was planned to be in the center panel of the triptych for the Heller Altar, which was destroyed by a fire in 1729.[1] The hand sketch appears on the triptych in the inside center panel on the right in similarity, although in smaller size. On the same paper is a sketch of the apostle's head, but the sheet has been divided from it. Overall, Dürer made 18 sketches for the altarpiece.[2]

The first public recognition of the artwork was in 1871 when it was exhibited in Vienna.[3]

The image depicts probably the master's own hands.[4]

The 2015 Drake album If You're Reading This It's Too Late includes a stylized version of the Dürer original on the album cover.[5]

In Ronald Harwood's The Dresser, after Norman applies make up to "Sir"'s hands, he states, "There! Albert Durer couldn't have done better."[6]

In 2011 Pavlos Tsakonas, student at the Athens School Of Fine Arts, made a graffiti mural based on Dürer's original drawing.[7] The mural is on the side of a 10-story building in the center of Athens, at Peiraios 20 street. The version is altered to have the hands pointing downwards.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Betende Hände (Dürer).
  1. www.barefootsworld.net Robert Perry Hardison (Barefoot): "Dürer". Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  2. (German) www.welt.de Die Welt "Wie Albrecht Dürer die Betenden Hände erfand", 24 December 2008. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  3. (German) www.focus.de Kultur: "Dürers „Betende Hände“ Tausendmal kopiert", 22 November 2008. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  4. (German) www.theophil-online.de Theophil-online, ökumenische Online-Zeitschrift: "Call God - Materialien für einen alternativen Zugang zum Thema Gebet im Religionsunterricht - 2.3.5. Variationen zu Albrecht Dürers Betende Hände", Gerd Buschmann 2002. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  5. www.complex.com "Drake's "6 God" Art Was Inspired by a Dead German Painter" 15 March 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
  6. Harwood, Ronald (1982-01-01). The Dresser. Samuel French, Inc. ISBN 9780573608438.
  7. "H προσευχή του Ντύρερ σε τοιχογραφία κτιρίου στην Ομόνοια | Athens Street Art". Flickr - Photo Sharing!. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
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