Praying Hands

Two hands rise in prayer, drawn in black and white on blue-prepared paper with such precision that every tendon, knuckle, and fold of the sleeve registers. It is a study from life for the hands of an apostle in Durer's Heller Altarpiece, the central panel of which later burned, so the drawing now outlives the work it served. Lifted from that purpose, it has become one of the most reproduced images in the world, a stand-alone emblem of devotion. The blue ground and white heightening are a technique Durer brought home from Venice - preparatory studies treated with the care of finished paintings.