{"id":117486,"date":"2021-08-26T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T03:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=117486"},"modified":"2021-08-27T16:28:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T23:28:25","slug":"praying-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/08\/26\/praying-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"PRAYING HANDS"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\nwriter is confident that readers may have seen the picture of \u2018praying\nhands\u2019<\/em><\/strong> umpteen times, mainly hung on Christian homes, but wonders how\nthe story originated! As narrated initially by\nRanjit Seneviratne, some time ago, the story was about a family in Nuremberg,\nWest Germany, in the fifteenth century. D\u00fcrer\u2019s was a large family with eighteen children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The children’s father was a professional goldsmith. Because he had to\nprovide food for so many children, the father had to work overtime up to\neighteen hours a day. Despite their hopeless financial situation, one of two of\nthe elder children, Albrecht once had a dream about becoming rich by following\nhis father’s talent. He discussed his dream with Albert, his brother. But in real life, they were\nquite convinced that their father would never allow them to do so, however much\nthey were financially miserable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The father\u2019s wish was to send both boys to the\nNuremberg Academy to become professionals. Their dream was discussed in the\nnight, in their crowded bed. After a lengthy discussion in their packed bed in\nthe night, the two boys reached an agreement to toss a coin. The loser would go\nto the local mines or do sales and earn to support his other brother who\nattended the University. The brother who won the toss had to participate\nin the academy and engage in studies diligently. So, they tossed a coin on a\nSunday morning after returning from the Church and Albert lost the agreement, which opened the opportunity for Albrecht to\ngo to the Nuremberg Academy. Albrecht Durer, as per agreement, between the two\nbrothers, went off to Nuremberg to attend studies at the academy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consequence of the\nDream <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Albert Durer had to go down the\ndangerous mines for four years devotedly to finance his brother, whose work at\nthe academy was a sensation to him. Albrecht’s progress of producing etched\nplates and objects, his woodcuts, and his oils at the Nuremberg Academy was far\nsuperior to his professors’. After the graduation, he was able to earn substantially. When the young, qualified sculptor\nreturned home, his parents, and the rest of his (Durer) family held a grand\ndinner on their lawn to celebrate and welcome Albrecht’s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 At the Dinner Party <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a\nmemorable dinner, with beer to the galore, Albrecht stood up from his chair and\nraised his glass to drink together in honour of his beloved brother\u2019s (Albert)\nfor his four years of dedicated sacrifice, which made him (Albrecht Durer)\nfulfil his ambition successfully. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holding the glass and with loving words, he made an emotional speech\nthat touched every one who attended the dinner and the family. At the end of\nhis speech, he raised his glass again and said: Now, Albert, you, are my\nblessed brother, who scarified your life for four years on account of me to\nqualify at the academy, it is now your turn to go to Nuremberg Academy to\npursue <\/em>the<\/em> dream<\/em>. On\nmy part, I can take care of all your expenses at the academy<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All heads turned towards the far end of the table where Albert was\nsitting. His eyes were wet with emotion, and his face looked pale . In a\ntottering voice, he lowered his head from side to side and sobbed with\nsentiment and repeated the words, saying, “No! No!!\u2026. No\u2026.!!!<\/em><\/strong>\n Finally, Albert Durer rose\nand wiped the tears and glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and\nthen, holding his hands close to his right cheek, said softly, “No,\nNo!! Brother, I cannot go to Nuremberg Academy, look at my hands<\/em>.<\/em>\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank\nyou, brother, for the kind gesture<\/em>,<\/em> but it is too late for me.\nSee what has happened to my hands for the past four years having to work at the\nmines! The bones of all the fingers were smashed at least once. Of late, I was\nsuffering from arthritis so very badly, in my right hand, that I cannot even\nhold a glass to return your toast! No, brother . It’s too late for me. I am so\nsorry. Thank you very much for your sacrifice. I love you so much.” <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Loving Memory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Later, in loving memory of\nhis beloved brother Albrecht Durer crafted a masterful portrait as a reminder\nof his brother’s dedication, which\nhelped him to become a professional craftsman. It was done in pen and silver\npoint sketches, watercolours, corals, woodcuts, and copper engravings, all of\nit as a total dedication to his beloved brother Albert, who sacrificed in the\nmines for four consecutive years, which enabled Albrecht to master his father’s\njob in a much wider sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms\ntogether, and thin fingers stretched skyward to pay homage to Albert for all he\nhad sacrificed. He called his powerful drawing simply \u2018Hands<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong> But the\nentire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece\nand renamed his tribute of love as “The Praying Hands<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d It was\nover many centuries ago that the emotional story took place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, masterful portraits, woodcuts, and even copper engravings are\navailable today about the two hands as a commemoration of Albert\u2019s sore hands\ncreated by hissbrother\nAlbrecht Durer, as paying compensation to his brother. Albert kept to his word\nand helped his brother to study and graduate at the Nuremberg Academy. Albrecht\nDurer’s masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolours,\ncharcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the\nworld even today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nmany buy them as a religious observation ,\nwithout knowing the real\nstory behind the emergence of an invaluable piece of craft created by Albrecht\nDurer. Currently there are so many reproductions hanging in your homes or offices .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time you see a copy of that touching creation,\ntake a second and look sharply. Let it be\nyour reminder, if you still need one, that no one – no one – ever makes\nit alone<\/em><\/strong>! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

tilakfermando@gmail.com <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando The writer is confident that readers may have seen the picture of \u2018praying hands\u2019 umpteen times, mainly hung on Christian homes, but wonders how the story originated! As narrated initially by Ranjit Seneviratne, some time ago, the story was about a family in Nuremberg, West Germany, in the fifteenth century. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-drtilak-s-fernando"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117486\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}