Magic on the Page

Michael and Jessica talk about the work of Matthias Buchinger (1674–1739), a specialist in micrography who was born without legs or arms. He was 29 inches tall and had 14 children with his four wives.

How did Buchinger manage to make his art? Seeing his works on paper in Wordplay: Matthias Buchinger’s Drawings from the Collection of Ricky Jay (at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through April 11) is like “seeing him doing these tricks before your eyes,” Michael says:

The paper is the proof of it. It’s one thing to hear these claims, and it’s another thing to stand at the Met in front of one of these pieces and see it as he did them at the time.

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