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| attributed to Correggio Study of hand before 1534 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| attributed to Hendrik Goltzius Study of hand ca. 1590-1600 engraving Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| attributed to Albrecht Dürer Studies of hands before 1526 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
Left Hand
One morning I look at it with surprise
that gives off a known but fathomless sound
what is it that I recognize with such
unappeased gratitude this is what I
have taken to be my own all my life
my own left hand that had nothing to do
but what I wanted as well as it could
that grew up with me as a part of me
with no mind of its own that I know of
and no existence apart from my own
its scars its habits are my own story
it does not hear what I say about it
or know what I know of its long journey
before it was mine the little finger
reaching to touch the thumb for the first time
startled speechless finding the way to it
again kindling a brightness beyond it
to which it belonged and with which it was
going what can I say to it even
now when it has helped me on to the words
that have been picked up before it was known
what they might be for and when the time comes
to use them what can they hold and carry
how far can they reach what sense will they touch
– W.S. Merwin (1998)
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| Jacob de Gheyn II Study of hands and various figures 1604 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Camillo Gavasetti Study of hand grasping drapery before 1628 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Abraham Bloemaert Standing trumpeter and studies of hands ca. 1624-26 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Abraham Bloemaert Studies of arms, hands, heads before 1651 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Eustache Le Sueur Study of hands before 1655 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Paulus Pontius after Peter Paul Rubens Anatomical study of arms and hands before 1655 engraving Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Moses ter Borch Study of hand ca. 1656-57 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Giacomo Cavedone Study of hands holding paper before 1660 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| attributed to Giacomo Cavedone Studies of hands before 1660 drawing Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Stefano della Bella Studies of hands before 1664 etching Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Gaetano Gandolfi Studies of hands, arm, feet before 1699 drawing on blue paper Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |