Proof

A palm may offer, beg, bless, conceal, count, or receive. Here, it performs all of these functions.

The small collection of coins appear to be the work’s most legible objects. They suggest payment, alms, winnings, tribute, or a bribe.

They are small bureaucratic seals pressed into the palm: proof that value has passed through, though not proof of where it came from or where it is going.

One could classify the image as devotional, occult, or transactional. The upper hands imply supplication; the lower hand stages a demonstration; the coins complicate the reading.