As an artist without arms and legs, 74 cm tall, he conquered the whole of Europe and became known as a ladies' man: Matthias Buchinger

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Even today, people with disabilities who achieve success in work and creativity inspire great respect and admiration in us. In the Middle Ages, however, a difference from the norm usually meant a complete social failure for a person. However, there are exceptions to all cruel rules. So, in 1674, a boy without arms and legs was born in Germany. As an adult, his height was only 74 centimeters, but he turned out to be not only a skilled artist, calligrapher, musician and even a magician, but also the most famous ladies' man.

Little is known about the family of the most popular 17th century dwarf. There is evidence that he was the ninth (and last) child and, most likely, the rest of the children in this family were healthy. A boy was born in a small town near Nuremberg. Hands to the knees and small stumps instead of legs - that's all that he inherited from nature. Today such a child would have been diagnosed with phocomelia and, perhaps, would have been helped with prosthetics, but in those days he could only have a career as a fair-faced freak. However, Matthias Buchinger was probably born a real genius. He quickly managed to get to the palaces of the nobility and even the royal chambers. Yes, people still looked at him as a freak, but very soon "the little man from Nuremberg" won another nickname: "the greatest living German." It turned out that the young dwarf has a unique artistic talent.

Even just learning to draw or write would be a huge achievement for a man without hands, but Buchinger got such a big name for a reason. He created amazing drawings using the technique of micrography: all the lines in the incredibly detailed paintings were in fact the finest written lines. Usually the master used texts from the Bible, but a magnifying glass was required to discern this.

One could doubt the authorship of the amazing works that have survived, but there are also historical documents - descriptions of eyewitnesses who saw the process of creating these drawings: Matthias performed with public demonstrations of his talent and created masterpieces right "in front of the amazed public." Of course, then the works were readily bought up, and the artist even added personalized inscriptions to the works sold.

The real mystery is how he did it. Observers reported that the artist painted with writing instruments between the stumps of both hands. But this, perhaps, is not yet as surprising as the other: Buchinger, apparently, did not use any magnifying tools when creating his miniatures, although a strong magnifying glass is required even to simply understand that instead of lines, lines with text are applied. The popularity of the amazing "little man" was so great that around 1720 he went to England, trying to get an appointment to the court of King George I, but this did not happen, and the micrographist toured Ireland with great success, after which he settled there …

The information that has come down to us about the other numerous talents of Matthias may cause confusion: supposedly, he was so dexterous that he skillfully showed tricks, played cards and was a universal musician - he owned half a dozen musical instruments, including cymbals, a trumpet and a flute. In addition, he was engaged in woodcarving, was a well-aimed marksman and in his spare time liked to make boats in bottles. Unfortunately, no reliable evidence has survived from these talents of his, so all that remains is to take his contemporaries at their word. It is possible that such a wide range of skills for a person without hands may surprise, but modern people with disabilities also sometimes amaze - what are, for example, downhill skiing for the visually impaired!

However, one more talent of the "little man from Nuremberg" is beyond doubt. In terms of the number of love affairs, he, apparently, could be compared with the no less famous Giacomo Casanova a little later. The numbers that have come down to us would do honor to any Hollywood star: four marriages, fourteen official children (and perhaps several dozen unofficial ones), forty mistresses … Even many years later, the expression “Buckinger's (Buchinger) boots” was in use in England - obscene anatomical euphemism, hinting at the artist's “only limb”.

Judging by the surviving evidence, Buchinger was not only loving, but also quite explosive person who could stand up for himself on occasion. Once he allegedly beat his first wife to death on the street. To his justification, it must be said that the wife was the first to dismiss her hands, indignant at her husband's infidelity, and once the disabled person simply answered her during a family quarrel.

This amazing man died at the age of 65, leaving behind a solid fortune. Today his graphic works are of great value and are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

At all times, people are born who are able to show an example of fortitude. Read next: The Immense Universe of the Great Stephen Hawking: From Pope to President of the United States