New
Older
About Me
Cast
Diaryrings
contact
Wishes
clix
my ebay listings
Image
Design
Diaryland

July 01, 2006
day 7
June 30, 2006
day 6
June 29, 2006
day 5
June 28, 2006
day 4
June 27, 2006
day 3

This weeks story from 52 Best

* My Brother's 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 Albrecht Durer's

elder children 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, if you still need one,

that no one, no one, ever makes it alone!

~ Author Unknown ~

Before - After