Craftsmanship

The infinite hand

By Pierre Maillard

July 2025

In his essay In Praise of the Hand,¹ Professor Claude Verdan (1909 – 2006) writes that “the brain is the principal organ of every evolved individual. It is the seat of creative thought, verbal expression and free will, but the brain would be nothing without the hand, its primary executor.”

The infinite hand

By Pierre Maillard

July 2025

The infinite hand

In his essay In Praise of the Hand,¹ Professor Claude Verdan (1909 – 2006) writes that “the brain is the principal organ of every evolved individual. It is the seat of creative thought, verbal expression and free will, but the brain would be nothing without the hand, its primary executor.”

A

n eminent Swiss hand surgeon, Claude Verdan’s research significantly advanced tendon surgery. But he did more than explore the hand’s physiology. He “collected” hands, too. Every type, every expression, every representation of the hand. In his view, “the hand is truly the organ of our knowledge and recognition of reality.”²

This fascinating hand, the source of our humanness, an organ more intimately connected to the brain than any other — to the extent we might ask which of the two is in command –, would be Claude Verdan’s life’s work, even creating the Musée de la Main UNIL-CHUV in Lausanne. A museum dedicated to the human hand and scientific culture, it continues to question the practices and understanding that shape our bodies and our perceptions.

The collection is not on public display but its many wonders will be revealed in our new magazine, HANDS, launching September 1st, 2026 to coincide with the opening of the Homo Faber Biennial in Venice.

¹ In La Main de l’Homme. Préfiguration d’un Musée. Lausanne, 1983 ©Musée de l’Elysée and Fondation Claude Verdan

² In La Main Cet Univers. Lausanne 1994 ©Editions du Verseau - Fondation du Musée de la Main

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