Q.
Anyone who has struggled through art class (🙌🏽), knows how difficult it is to draw hands. Face is a bit cattywampus, but let’s say we’re going for a Picasso vibe. Body is a bit murder scene chalk outline come to life, but at least the legs are bigger than the arms? Now, for the hands….. 😶‍🌫️

It’s interesting to focus in on how renowned artists depict hands. Some are known for their remarkable anatomical clarity. Others create hands that would confuse a CT scan, but tell such a clear story. Some examples…

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A.

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The Arnolfini Portrait. 1434. Jan van Eyck

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Leonardo da Vinci. A study of a woman’s hands. 1490

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Albrecht Dürer. Praying Hands. 1508

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Michelangelo. Creation of Adam (cropped). 1511

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Hans Holbein The Younger.  Portrait of Erasmus. 1528

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Hans Holbein The Younger.  Edward VI as a child. 1538

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Johannes Vermeer. Young Woman with a Pearl Necklace. 1663-65

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Edgar Degas. The Orchestra at the Opera. 1870

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John Singer Sargent. Dr. Pozzi At Home. 1881

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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Portrait of Princess Albert de Broglie. 1851-53

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Mary Cassatt. Mrs Robert S. Cassatt, The Artist’s Mother. 1889

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Grant Wood. American Gothic. 1930

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Lucian Freud. Girl in a Striped Nightshirt. 1985

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www.justcurious.ca

Header Art: Caravaggio. Martha and Mary Magdalene. 1598