A magician with no arms or legs!
June 26, 2026
Matthias Buchinger was born on June 2, 1674… without arms or legs!
While this birth defect seemed to portend a difficult life, Matthias proved to be an incredible, multi-talented artist… including magic!
Admire this portrait… which is actually a self-portrait! Indeed, Matthias Buchinger was a talented draftsman, and especially a calligrapher! This portrait actually hides a secret: if you zoom in on the hair, you’ll notice that it’s actually formed from sentences!
Hair detail
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In addition to his talent for micro-calligraphy (without arms or legs, let us remember!), Matthias Buchinger was an accomplished musician, mastering no fewer than half a dozen instruments, and above all… a magician!
An engraving depicts him in all the arts he seems to master (ranging from crafting miniature models to shooting). One of the vignettes (the one at the bottom left) shows him as a magician, in front of a cup-and-ball game.
Detail of the engraving
He died on an unknown date (around the late 1730s). The famous Ricky Jay took a keen interest in Matthias Buchinger's exceptional life and collected numerous documents about him. He wrote Matthias Buchinger: ‘The Greatest German Living’ for this purpose.
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