home Heating options The history of the origin of tattoos. Tattoo history (1 photo)

The history of the origin of tattoos. Tattoo history (1 photo)

Tattoos appeared by accident. Having noticed that after burns and cuts, into which soot or any paint other than scars accidentally got into, bizarre indelible patterns are formed on the skin, people began to cause damage intentionally.

The art of decorating yourself with tattoos can be considered one of the oldest. The history of tattooing goes back at least 6,000 years. The most ancient tattoos were found during excavations of the Egyptian pyramids. The mummies are about four thousand years old, but the patterns on the dried skin are clearly visible. The ancient Egyptians revered the art of tattooing and, thanks to trade relations, taught the inhabitants of Persia, Greece and Crete to decorate their own bodies.

According to researchers, tattoos appeared in the era of primitive society. It served not only as decoration, but also as a sign of a tribe, clan, totem, indicated the social affiliation of its owner, served as camouflage during a hunt, and was also endowed with magical powers. Initially, the design was applied to the body with paints. However, the images were short-lived, so there was a need for more durable patterns.

Mentions of the body marks of ancient peoples (Gauls, Thracians, Greeks, Germans) are found in the works of Herodotus, Hippocrates, Xenophon and other ancient authors. Some peoples only made cuts on the skin of people of noble birth. Others had their backs and fronts painted by rich people. The tattoo was even used for secret correspondence. To do this, the slave's head was shaved and a letter was applied to the skin. When the hair grew back, the slave went to the appointed place.

There is a lot of information about the customs of tattooing and scarring among the peoples of the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It was customary for the noble Altai Scythians to paint images of animals on their bodies - birds of prey, deer, rams, fish, etc., as well as scenes from legends and myths.

In Europe, they learned about tattoos thanks to the navigator James Cook. In 1769, he brought with him from his travels a Polynesian completely covered with tattoos. According to another version, the art of tattooing came to Europe from Australia, namely from the island of Samoa, becoming honorable and elite among the European nobility. On the Samoan Islands, a tattoo to this day is a sign of a serious position in society and is applied to the body using the same methods as many centuries ago. With the spread of Christianity, attitudes towards tattooing began to change - it was prohibited, considering it sinful. They referred to the Bible. During the era of great geographical discoveries, tattoos in Europe became evidence of human primitiveness.

However, tattooing has been used for many centuries, it was used to brand slaves and criminals. So, for example, in Europe, sharpers were given a sign in the form of a hexagon, poachers - in the form of horns, those sentenced to galleys - the inscription "GAL", those sentenced to lifelong correctional labor - "TFP". In Russia, slaves were branded; those exiled to Siberia were marked with the letters “KT”.

Representatives of high society made body drawings in the form of symbols of power and family coats of arms. The common people made do with simple love pictures. Tattoos were most popular among sailors: most often they applied the names and images of their favorite girls and crucifixes on their bodies, which were considered a talisman against misfortune.

In other countries of the world, particularly in America, India, Polynesia and Japan, tattooing was widespread. Residents of these states generously decorated their bodies with tattoos, while the rich or those with a high social position had the most luxurious body designs. Tattoo culture flourished most in Japan. Tattoos were worn by samurai and geisha (they were forbidden to show naked bodies, so they made tattoos that imitated clothing, without applying the ornament only to the face, palms and feet). Japanese masters were the first to offer three-dimensional images. Instead of ornaments and flat figures, they began to depict three-dimensional and colorful mythical animals.

The art of tattooing most likely “sailed” to North America through the Bering Strait along with the Chukchi. The Chukchi were friends with the North American Indians, and they transferred the art of tattooing to Central and South America.

Color, location, as well as the design itself were of great importance. For example, among the Maori, complex tattoos were given only to noble tribesmen of noble birth. The tattoos of this people were distinguished not only by their beauty, but also by their complexity. The ornaments formed complex plots, but were located strictly symmetrically on the body. Some American tribes painted corresponding images during the war with neighboring tribes.

Residents of the Polynesian islands made body paintings in the form of animals, which were the totem of the clan. Tattooing is a ritual, the violation of which deprives this process of its magical meaning, so it was performed in secret by specially dedicated people. Did you know that a tattoo is also your guide to another world, a spotlight illuminating the road to another world? However, over time, the original meaning of many images was lost. Decorative tattoos began to be made more and more often. With the help of a tattoo, a person seeks to stand out from his surroundings and express his inner self.

It is difficult to say exactly when a person first applied a pattern to his skin. But it is known for certain that the history of tattooing goes back at least 60,000 years. The most ancient tattoos were found during excavations of the Egyptian pyramids. The mummies are about four thousand years old, but the patterns on the dried skin are clearly visible.

However, tattooing appeared much earlier - during the primitive communal system. It served not only as decoration, but also as a sign of a tribe, clan, totem, indicated the social affiliation of its owner, and in addition, was endowed with a certain magical power. The reasons for the appearance of a regular tattoo are also not entirely clear. According to one theory, this is a logical progression from natural skin damage accidentally received by Stone Age people. Wounds and bruises merged into bizarre scars that distinguished their bearer from his fellow tribesmen in an advantageous way, as a brave warrior and a successful hunter. Over time, primitive families grew, united into small organized communities, and marks were specially applied to the skin, having a specific meaning within a certain social group. This happened at the end of the Ice Age...

The historical roots are deep, and the tattoo geography is no less impressive. Different kinds tattoos were practiced among fair-skinned peoples all over the world, and among dark-skinned people they were replaced by scarring. Everyone got tattoos - different tribes of Europe and Asia, Indians of North and South America and, of course, the inhabitants of Oceania.

It is the Indian tribes of Indonesia and Polynesia, where the practice of tattooing is continuously passed down from generation to generation, that serve as the best anthropological evidence of the social significance of tattoos. Almost all aspects of the lives of these people are connected with tattoos - from birth to death - and, of course, there is no part of the body that a local artist would not work on.

Tattoos among different peoples of the world were a symbol of slavery, chosenness, protected and carried encrypted information. So, on Egyptian mummies, archaeologists found examples of the most ancient tattoo. They date back to approximately 2000 BC. The Egyptians tattooed only their pharaohs and the most powerful priests. The island peoples used tattoos to approach their gods. Ancient peoples used tattoos in religious rituals, as an amulet and as decoration. For example, the Greeks tattooed their spies with encrypted tattoos, and the Romans branded criminals and slaves. Moreover, the Roman Emperor Caligula liked it when wealthy, impeccable citizens received slave tattoos for entertainment.

The face is always visible. Therefore, it is the face that is decorated first. The Majori tribes of New Zealand wear mask-like tattoos on their faces - Moko. These amazing intricacies of patterns serve both as permanent war paint and as an indicator of the valor and social status of their owners. According to local customs, if a dead warrior had a Moko mask on his face, he was awarded the highest honor - his head was cut off and kept as a tribal relic. And the corpses of unpainted warriors were left to be torn to pieces by wild animals. Moko patterns are so individual that they were often used as personal signatures or fingerprints. At the beginning of the last century, having sold their lands to English missionaries, Majori, when signing the “bill of sale,” carefully depicted an exact copy of their Moko mask.

Almost all tribes North America They use tattoos: the more tattooed a person is, the more courageous and valiant he is considered among his fellow tribesmen. Our ancestors also loved to decorate their bodies with bizarre images of animals, which, according to their beliefs, were supposed to ward off troubles from the family. The ancient Indians used tattoos to mark the number of enemies they defeated on their bodies.

In New Zealand and Polynesia, people who got a tattoo were revered as saints. The unbearable pain they experienced during the tattooing process elevated them to the rank of martyrs. The design was hollowed out on the face, arms and legs with hammers and needles over several hours. Anyone who could not stand it to the end was considered damned along with the whole family. In Japan, only the most respected teachers of martial arts schools were allowed to tattoo themselves. In the Middle Ages, the Christian Church tried to destroy the tradition of tattooing, considering it a barbaric heritage. In enlightened Europe, tattooing originated from the mark of a medieval executioner who marked thieves and murderers. For a long time in Soviet Russia, tattoos were considered an attribute of prison.

Japanese Ainu women used tattoos on their faces to indicate their marital status. By the patterns on the lips, cheeks and eyelids, one could determine whether a woman was married and how many children she had. Likewise, among other peoples, the abundance of patterns on a woman’s body symbolized her endurance and fertility. And in some places, the situation with women’s tattoos reached extremes: on Nukuro Atoll, children born to non-tattooed women were killed at birth.

Having changed after death, the tattoos became light and shining, and this light was enough to safely guide their owner through the dark abyss between the earth and Apo-Kesio. In addition, among different peoples, tattoos were endowed with a wide variety of magical properties: children were protected from parental wrath, adults were protected in battle and hunting, the elderly were kept from illness. However, the magic of tattoos was used not only by “savages”.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, British sailors painted huge crucifixes on their backs in the hope that this would protect them from corporal punishment, which was widely practiced in the English fleet. Among the Arabs, a tattoo with quotations from the Koran was considered the most reliable protective talisman. In all the examples given, the tattoo, one way or another, increased the social status of its owner. But in some cases it also served as punishment. In the Japanese province of Chukuzen during the Edo period (1603-1867), as punishment for the first crime, robbers were given a horizontal line across the forehead, for the second - an arched line, and for the third - another one. The result was a composition that made up the hieroglyph INU - “dog”.

In ancient China, one of the Five Classical Punishments was also a tattoo on the face. Slaves and prisoners of war were also marked, making it difficult for them to escape and making them easier to identify. Both the Greeks and Romans used tattoos for similar purposes, and the Spanish conquistadors continued the practice in Mexico and Nicaragua. Already in our century, during the First World War, in Britain deserters were marked with a “D” tattoo, in Germany they stamped numbers on victims of concentration camps, and what to hide, in our Union the same thing was practiced in regime camps.

But in ancient Europe, tattoos were in general use among the Greeks and Gauls, Britons and Thracians, Germans and Slavs. The Proto-Slavs, our ancestors, used clay stamps or seals - pintaderas - to apply tattoos. These unique presses with ornamental elements made it possible to cover the entire body with a continuous diamond-meander carpet pattern, which was extremely necessary in magical rituals ancient cult of fertility. Unfortunately, with the spread of Christianity, the custom of tattooing began to be mercilessly eradicated, as component pagan rituals, and almost died out. Moreover, the Old Testament clearly states: “For the sake of the dead, do not make cuts on your body and do not write on yourself.”

The most ancient tattoos were found during excavations of the Egyptian pyramids. The mummies are about four thousand years old, but the patterns on the dried skin are clearly visible.

The reasons for the emergence of the custom of tattooing are also not entirely clear. According to one theory, this is a logical progression from natural skin damage accidentally received by Stone Age people. Wounds and bruises merged into bizarre scars that distinguished their bearer from his fellow tribesmen in an advantageous way, as a brave warrior and a successful hunter. Over time, primitive families grew, united into small organized communities, and marks were specially applied to the skin, having a specific meaning within a certain social group. This happened at the end of the Ice Age...
The historical roots are deep, and the tattoo geography is no less impressive. Various types of tattoos were practiced among fair-skinned peoples around the world, and were replaced by scarring among dark-skinned people. Everyone got tattoos - different tribes of Europe and Asia, Indians of North and South America and, of course, residents of Oceania.

Tattooing is also associated with so-called “transitional” rites, be it the initiation of a young man into a mature man or the migration from this life to the afterlife. For example, the Diak tribes from the island of Borneo believed that in the local paradise - Apo Kesio - everything acquires new qualities, opposite to those on earth: light becomes dark, sweet becomes bitter, etc. Therefore, the inventive and prudent Diak people tattooed themselves in the darkest shades. Having changed after death, the tattoos became light and shining, and this light was enough to safely guide their owner through the dark abyss between the earth and Apo Kesio.
In addition, among different peoples, tattoos were endowed with a wide variety of magical properties: children were protected from parental wrath, adults were protected in battle and hunting, the elderly were protected from illness. However, the magic of tattoos was used not only by “savages”. In the 18th and 19th centuries, British sailors painted huge crucifixes on their backs in the hope that this would protect them from corporal punishment, which was widely practiced in the English navy. Among the Arabs, a tattoo with quotes from the Koran was considered the most reliable protective talisman. In all the examples given, the tattoo, one way or another, increased the social status of its owner. But in some cases it also served as punishment.

In the Japanese province of Chukuzen of the Edo period (1603-1867), as punishment for the first crime, robbers were given a horizontal line across the forehead, for the second - an arched line, and for the third - another one. The result was a composition that made up the hieroglyph INU - “dog”. In ancient China, one of the Five Classical Punishments was also a tattoo on the face. Slaves and prisoners of war were also marked, making it difficult for them to escape and making them easier to identify. Both the Greeks and Romans used tattoos for similar purposes, and the Spanish conquistadors continued the practice in Mexico and Nicaragua. Already in our century, during the First World War, in Britain deserters were marked with a “D” tattoo, in Germany they stamped numbers on victims of concentration camps, and what to hide, in our Union the same thing was practiced in regime camps...

But in ancient Europe, tattoos were in general use among the Greeks and Gauls, Britons and Thracians, Germans and Slavs.
The Proto-Slavs, our ancestors, used clay stamps or seals - pintaderas - to apply tattoos. These unique presses with ornamental elements made it possible to cover the entire body with a continuous diamond-meander carpet pattern, which was extremely necessary in the magical rituals of the ancient cult of fertility. Unfortunately, with the spread of Christianity, the custom of tattooing began to be mercilessly eradicated, as an integral part of pagan rituals, and practically died out. Moreover, the Old Testament clearly states: “For the sake of the dead, do not make cuts on your body and do not write on yourself.”

The ban was so severe that tattooing was not practiced among Europeans until the 18th century. But, ironically, when Christian missionaries went to distant countries to convert “wild” tribes, the sailors from their ships acquired gorgeous tattoos there as a memory of their travels. The infamous Captain James Cook made the most significant contribution to the revival of tattoos in Europe. Returning from a voyage in 1769, he brought from Tahiti not only the word “tattoo” itself, but also the “Great Omai,” a completely statued Polynesian who became a sensation - the first living tattoo gallery. And soon not a single self-respecting performance, fair or traveling circus could do without the participation of a “noble savage”. By the end of the 19th century, the fashion for aborigines subsided; instead, Americans and Europeans themselves began to perform at fairs. For example, a certain Lady Viola flaunted portraits of six American presidents, Charlie Chaplin and many other celebrities, causing the delight of crowds already in our century... But, although ordinary people loved to look at the decorated circus performers, they themselves were in no hurry to get tattoos. This was the privilege of sailors, miners, foundry workers and other similar “trade unions”, who used the tattoo as a symbol of brotherhood, solidarity, and loyalty to tradition. The modern popularity of tattoos in the West owes a lot to them. At the same time, they are also responsible for the creative stagnation in Western tattooing of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Poor imagination and dubious artistic taste of the main customers led to the limitation of the tattoo “repertoire” to marine themes, vulgar sentimentality and banal aphorisms.

As sad as it may be, the fact remains that civilization has reduced ancient art to the level of cheap consumer goods. The lack of demand for decent products discouraged tattoo artists and deprived them of incentive for creativity and new stylistic developments.

But it was then, in 1891, that the American O'Reilly invented an electric tattoo machine, which replaced all kinds of homemade tools and devices. But even technological progress did not move things forward dead center. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, both Europe and America had a standard set of simple popular prints.

And only thanks to the powerful surge of youth culture in the 50s and 60s, a new generation of tattoo artists appeared, whose creative ambitions and bold experiments once again elevated tattooing to the rank of art. They borrowed widely from traditional images from other cultures - the Far East, Polynesia, the American Indians - creating exciting hybrids, new styles, schools and trends. Thus began a new, modern stage of a thousand-year-old tattoo - a story that undoubtedly deserves a separate detailed story.

The tattoo hobby, if you can call it that, is gaining more and more followers. In the summer, when everyone tries to dress as openly as possible, it’s easy to notice that there are more and more painted bodies. This is quite surprising, given the peculiarities of our time.

Now everything is changing, more than ever in history, people quickly get tired of something, want something new, and in general everything is in constant motion - we constantly want new acquisitions, new impressions, new experiences. But with a tattoo, on the contrary, it is static. Once we get a tattoo on our body, we won’t be able to easily change the plot or get rid of the tattoo altogether. Why then is tattooing popular?

Most importantly, the popularity of tattoos is growing in all segments of the population, even the most cultured and wealthy! Previously, tattoos were worn by criminals and various punks, but now by educated and cultured people. Let's take a look at the history of tattoos and try to figure it out.

The word "tattoo" has its roots in Polynesian languages and means "done according to all the rules." Or perhaps this word comes from the word “tatau” - “to hit”, used on the island of Tahiti.

For the ancient Indians, a tattoo had a sacred meaning, it helped demonstrate their status and merits, and was also part of many rituals, including magical ones. The Indians drew the required pattern on the body, and then took a sharp shark tooth and, using a hammer, turned the design into a tattoo.

At the same time, the Indians, like many other peoples, firmly believed in the symbolism and meaning of tattoos; they did not draw just anything on themselves, but only those drawings that could help them in life, change their lives for the better.

Despite the fact that ancient people were primitive, did not have the Internet for communication and could not freely and en masse cross the seas and oceans, tattoos were present in different parts of the planet - in tribes that could not possibly meet.

Skin of an ancient mummy with traces of tattoo

The Naga people from the jungles of Indonesia had little contact with anyone, but they also had tattoos.

They tattooed the warriors of the tribe - it testified to their strength and achievements. The secrets of the meaning of tattoos were passed down from generation to generation, and only the wives of the tribal elders could do them. Each time after a successful hunt, the warrior received another tattoo, and the more prey the warrior took, the more tattoos covered his body.

But not only warriors and hunters decorated themselves with drawings. The tattoo found a place even on the bodies of girls, who, after their first menstruation, were given several transverse stripes on the chin and a mysterious ornament on the forehead. These signs supposedly protected the girl from evil spirits. And after marriage, women from the Naga tribe had tattoos on their shoulders.

I wonder who could have convinced people that a tattoo could have some effect on spirits? Perhaps the spirits themselves thus mocked and mocked primitive people?

Women and girls of Ancient Egypt lived in a more developed society than the tribes in the jungle, but they also decorated themselves with tattoos. Even 3000 BC, Egyptian women knew tattoos! Why did they need this?

According to Egyptian priests, tattoos helped women during pregnancy and childbirth and improved their health. The priests communicated with spirits, from whom they most likely received knowledge about tattoos.

Photos above and below – tattoos of the Altai Princess

On the territory of modern Russia in Altai, a burial was discovered in an unusual tomb under a block of ice. She was named Princess Ukok - Altai Princess. The princess's mummy has preserved the tattoos to this day.

In addition to the princess, there were other finds that indicate the Scythians’ love for tattooing. Herodotus wrote on this topic. In his opinion, among the Scythians and Thracians the ritual of tattooing was carried out only for. If there is no tattoo, this means a person from the lower class.

In New Zealand, the Maori are famous for the art of tattooing. Each drawing was individual, as if a person’s personal code; it emphasized the nobility of the person, the antiquity of his family and special merits. Maori women had special rituals to apply tattoos around their mouths; according to their beliefs, they retained youth and beauty for many years.

Mummies with traces of tattoos have been found in various parts of the Earth; figurines and various images of people also testify to tattoos.

Why did ancient people from different parts of the world get tattoos, how did they come up with this, because they did not have direct communication and did not pass on knowledge? There may be many theories on this subject, but if you think deeply, you can understand that the desire to get a tattoo was whispered to our ancestors by various spirits with whom their shamans and priests communicated.

Modern people they often don’t believe in spirits, now there are almost no shamans left, and priests are found only on the pages of books, but this does not mean that the spirits have disappeared and stopped whispering different desires to us.

Photo above – Altai Princess and her tattoo
Photo below is a modern copy

Looking at history, you can see that tattoos abundantly covered people’s bodies before the advent of Christianity. When Christianity took hold, tattooing fell out of favor, and the current rise in popularity of tattooing clearly shows the loss of influence of Christianity on people's minds. In general, people are returning to pre-Christian origins, pagan religions are being revived and much more that was unthinkable in the Christian period.

There are other reasons. As we already said - modern world changeable, and we always want something new, but at the same time we want something permanent that taxes and crises cannot take away. For some people, a tattoo becomes this permanent thing.

In a society that lives by the “use it and throw it away” principle, people begin to paint indelible designs and symbols on their own bodies, because this accompanies them until their death. Tattoo is the only lifelong capital that no one can take away from them until the very end!

In addition, a tattoo gives you the opportunity to stand out and express your own uniqueness. For some, a tattoo demonstrates self-confidence, strong personality and a certain coolness.

They attract attention to certain parts of the body and are designed to enhance their attractiveness and sexuality, which is very important now, because there are a lot of seductive girls around and you need to somehow stand out among your rivals.

Therefore, in the understanding of certain people, a tattoo actually becomes capital and even an investment in oneself, in one’s life.

Although in truth a tattoo is a very dubious investment, it is easy to apply and easy to demonstrate. Knowledge is also capital for life, knowledge and education cannot be taken away by crises, but knowledge is much more difficult to acquire.

Now we know the history of tattoos and can understand the reasons for their popularity.

Tattooing is an ancient cultural phenomenon that dates back to primitive times. In those distant years, our ancestors actively decorated their bodies with symbolic drawings, which had a special meaning and were an element of intimidation of the enemy, symbol primitive clans and so on.

Many drawings of those times are reflected in modern body art, which includes a variety of stylistic trends.

The history of tattooing in Europe is somewhat murky. Each language of the European group had its own word for body designs. For example, the people of Holland called tattoos “puncture drawing.” Russian word“tattoo” also has a very clear meaning.

IN English language in relation to tattoos, a phrase was used meaning “painted with a dotted line,” which hints at the technique of tattooing in those days.

The discovery of a new continent, where local civilizations actively used body painting for self-expression and ritual practices, gave impetus to the emerging body art culture. Initially, the word “tattoo” was used only in relation to drawings applied by the inhabitants of Tahiti. After the voyages of the navigator Cook, the term “tattoo” spread throughout Europe and was contrastingly imprinted in the culture of that time.

In the mid-19th century, the term “tattoo” was first used in the scientific community. After this, the word spread throughout the civilized world.

On the territory of modern Russia, tattoos existed back in the days of the ancient Russians. Some evidence from the 10th century suggests that our pagan ancestors decorated themselves with beautiful tattoos. Unfortunately, there is little such evidence, and it is impossible to say how popular tattoos were in Russia at that time. However, the beginning of the 20th century was marked by a revival of the tattoo culture. Such drawings were popular among sailors - people who, like no one else, were in close contact with other cultures. Also, an important impetus for the development of body art was the criminalization of society at that time, the dominance of thieves’ culture and other phenomena of the prison environment. During times Soviet Union tattoos could also be found among army men. Some tattoos had a political background and adorned the bodies of relevant figures, oppositionists and rebels.

Nowadays, tattoo culture is gaining momentum in popularity not only in Russia, but throughout the world. Just a dozen years ago, body art was the lot of informals and romantics. Today, a variety of pictures can decorate the pumped-up body of a marketing director, designer, or even a public businessman. Moreover, these drawings are not always small and inconspicuous.

Inscriptions, symbols, patterns and full-fledged paintings today cover the bodies of a wide variety of people from different social classes. Today, tattooing has become one of the brightest ways of self-identification and expression of one’s inner world. Guys with stuffed sleeves and girls with elegant patterns on their hips have brightened our society with their authenticity.

Paints and pigments

Tattooing is the process of applying paint under the skin with a special machine with a built-in needle. Quality depends not only on the skill of the artist and the availability of expensive equipment.

An important factor is the properties of the paint itself.

Tattoo ink is a special pigment that, upon contact with the skin, acquires a certain color and retains the brightness of the design. A large percentage of tattoo inks on the market have a base that allows you to mix different inks and create new shades.

Some tattoo artists do not use popular professional inks, preferring to create their own pigments. As a rule, this happens when the artist places high demands on the purity and dispersion of the product.

In not so distant times, when chemistry as a science was not yet sufficiently developed, inks based on plant components were used for tattooing. Of course, such pigments caused a number of unpleasant consequences, including allergic reactions. In addition, the colors of that time faded quickly.

But nowadays everything is completely different. Modern paints are produced using high-precision equipment. The product undergoes careful processing and purification. Most modern paints contain components that help accelerate the healing of injured skin.

Tattoo inks can be divided into price categories. Some are affordable and some are expensive. The latter are mainly represented by products containing microgranules of surgical plastic. A tattoo filled with such ink will retain its original color for many years.

However, recently, organic-based paints are increasingly being used. Mineral pigment technology allows you to maintain the clarity of the design and minimize the likelihood that the tattoo will “float”. Organic inks are typically used for micropigmentation.

Tattoos in religions of the world

World religions interpret such a cultural phenomenon as a tattoo differently. Let's consider the most Interesting Facts in this direction.

Types of tattoos

All tattoos can be globally divided into 2 types - temporary and permanent. With the latter, everything is clear - they can only be removed using special, far from pleasant procedures. Temporary tattoos are an excellent alternative to traditional body art, since over time such designs fade and disappear completely. Let's talk about them.

Temporary tattoos are a choice for those who are not yet ready for more brutal experiments with their body. If you decide to get a permanent tattoo, but have not yet decided on the location or design, then it makes sense to think about applying a temporary design. This way you can first assess whether you like the selected painting, inscription or symbolism. Moreover, you are on personal experience you will feel what it is like to have a tattoo. If suddenly you don’t like it, just get a temporary tattoo and forget about it. If, on the contrary, you like the way you look with a temporary tattoo, then you can safely choose a sketch for a full-fledged tattoo.

There are several ways to apply temporary tattoos. Each of them has its own advantages and features. Let's look at the most popular:

In addition, there are a number of other methods that allow you to apply temporary designs to the body. Recently, crystal tattoos, decals and glitter tattoos have become popular. These extravagant ways of decorating your body are especially popular in the fashion industry.

Tattoo styles

Of course, body art is an immense field for creativity. However, over the years of the existence of tattoo culture, several key styles have been formed, which are clearly different from each other and have their own characteristics. Here they are:

Realism. Its essence is to draw drawings with a detailed and realistic representation of people, landscapes, etc. Despite the stereotype that realism began to develop not so long ago, in fact, such tattoos adorned noble bodies back in the 19th century. Seeing a portrait on an officer's shoulder was a normal occurrence.
Oriental. Already from the name it is clear that this style is intertwined with Eastern culture. Do you like tattoos with images and ? Are you interested in geisha and Japanese themes? Or do you want to decorate your body with a gorgeous one? Then you will like the oriental style.
The style originates in the first half of the 20th century in the United States, when crime syndicates actively expanded their spheres of influence. It was then that style tattoos could be seen on the courageous torsos of fearless mafiosi. – a very specific style that is popular both in the criminal world and among the civilian population.
The essence of the style is the imitation of the mechanical structure of the human body, hidden under the skin. Torn muscle, under which gears, pistons and bearings are hidden, is a classic tattoo in the style.
Old school European and American tattooing dates back to the 19th century. The popularity of the style either falls or rises again. Constant fans of the genre are lovers of heavy music and brutal lifestyle. or hellish. Wouldn't you like it?
Perhaps the most popular tattoo format. The success of this genre is quite understandable - tattoos are made, as a rule, in one color and are tricky. They can be very different in shape, but in most cases they have lines similar to flames, daggers and shurikens. - a traditional tattoo format in Oceania, as well as in some African tribes. Evidence also suggests that such tattoos decorated bodies.
Trash. The philosophy of this style is to see beauty even in the most terrible things. Bright colors, spontaneous lines, and their emotional intensity are the key features of the style, the name of which literally translates as “garbage.” Even a photo of such tattoos can evoke vivid emotions in the inexperienced public.
Dotwork. A special tattoo technique that has formed an authentic style. Dotwork allows you to create geometrically complex designs. At the same time, the brightness and contrast of the details depends on the density of dots applied to a specific area of the skin. Dotwork is a “dish” for true gourmets of body art.
Rich and unusual tattoos that have male and female variations. On the shoulders of boys and men they look militant and aggressive, which adds to their charm. Such tattoos make the female image completely brutal and wild.
New school A new trend in body art that emerged in the 1980s. The new school of tattoos was popularized throughout the world. New school is characterized by bright colors and non-trivial plots. Often psychedelic and abstraction are mixed into all this.
Traditional The traditional direction of body painting has its own history and special meaning. You should not treat all this superficially, and... The symbolism and sacred meaning in these tattoos is especially clear. Behind the external minimalism lies the completeness of the composition and laconic wisdom.
Blackwork. The style is extremely authentic. You can recognize it by large areas of skin literally filled with black paint to a glossy, uniform surface. A typical blackwork is geometric shapes evenly filled with black paint in all areas. A black square on the back is a common tattoo format in the blackwork style. Moreover, the fact that a tattoo is made in black does not mean that it belongs to the blackwork family.
Neo-traditional The style is somewhat different from the traditional one. In many ways it resembles new school.
Ethnics. Relatively recently, ethnic trends have become a trend. These tattoos are distinguished by an amazing variety of designs, interesting combinations of colors and three-dimensional images.
Sketch style. A truly authentic style that completely breaks the stereotype that a tattoo should be bright, clear and sophisticated. Sketch style is more reminiscent of moleskine sketches than an elegant sketch.
Watercolor. Even if you are skeptical about tattoo culture, the style can change your perception of body art. Such tattoos are preferred by creative people. Watercolor has nothing in common with other styles, which makes it a special direction in art.
Handpoke. These tattoos are easy to perform. As a rule, handpoke tattoos look funny and often indecent.

Of course, the world of tattoos is not limited to just the above styles. Masters of body art are constantly experimenting and creating new directions in this non-trivial art.

In addition, a lot depends on the artist himself, because some masters practice their own style, incomparable to any of the already existing ones.

Tattooing

Tattooing is a complex process consisting of the following stages:

Applying antibacterial agents to the skin;
Preparation of the foreman’s workplace;
Applying a thin layer of Vaseline to the client's skin;
Drawing tattoo contours using a machine;
Removing paint residues with a napkin or cotton swab;
Painting over a tattoo using a special machine, characterized by a wide amplitude of needle movement;
Correction of tattoo colors and contours;
Applying an antiseptic to the skin to accelerate the healing process;
Covering the tattoo with a special plaster or film to prevent infection.

Upon returning home, the client must treat his “trophy” and follow a tattoo care regimen. The complete healing process can take up to 10 days, which is worth considering when planning your time over the next couple of weeks.

Tattoo removal

There are often cases when a tattoo loses its relevance and there comes a time when you want to get rid of it. There are many ways to do this. For example, you can resort to an old, but very painful method of removing a tattoo - mechanical damage to the painted area of the skin. This method was practiced in Soviet prisons, where authoritative criminals forced newcomers to remove “undeserved” tattoos with a brick.

Fortunately, today there is a more humane way to remove tattoos. We are talking about laser tattoo removal. Using a ruby laser, you can painlessly get rid of unwanted body patterns.

The operating principle of the equipment is very simple. The laser beam is directed at the dye molecule, which is broken into small particles. These particles enter the lymph and are then excreted from the body. Today, laser tattoo removal is considered one of the safest and most comfortable ways to solve aesthetic problems of this kind.

Tattoo care

Proper tattoo care is very important, especially if we are talking about the first days after the tattoo was applied. We will present a number of mandatory recommendations that must be followed in order to avoid typical problems such as infection, violation of the integrity of the pattern, etc.:

Remove the bandage after tattooing exactly as directed by your artist. Typically this time ranges from 4 to 12 hours depending on the size of your tattoo.
In the first days after applying the tattoo, wash it warm water with soap without using alcohol-containing substances.
After the first “home” wash, apply an antibacterial agent recommended by your master to the area of the design.
Do not peel off the resulting crust under any circumstances. Give the skin time to heal, and the scab will fall off on its own over time.
In the first days after getting a tattoo, avoid exposing the design to direct sunlight. Ultraviolet light can significantly damage appearance tattoo.
It is better to avoid drinking alcohol and other drugs that increase blood pressure during the tattoo healing stage. Increasing pressure can cause the tattoo to change by knocking out the pigment.
Try to avoid strenuous physical activity in the first weeks after getting a tattoo.

remember, that improper care a tattoo can ruin its original appearance. In addition, getting an infection is not the most pleasant thing, so care at home should be taken seriously. You don’t want the fine work of the master to lose its brightness and clarity of lines, do you?

Pros and cons of getting a tattoo

What does your tattoo mean? Where do you want to stuff it? Will it be relevant in a few years? If you have not answered these questions, then you should definitely think about whether you are ready to decorate your body with a tattoo. To be objective, we will present arguments for and against tattoos.

Benefits of tattoo:

Disadvantages of tattoos:

Tattoos are painful, especially for people who are hypersensitive;
A tattoo is considered by many to be an antisocial decoration that definitely does not go well with a white collar and a business suit;
A tattoo is conditionally forever.

We recommend choosing a tattoo carefully so as not to spend a lot of money on removing it later. Think about what you expect from the design and why you want to decorate your body with it. Only a consciously made tattoo will not be a disappointment for you in the future.

In every major city today there are tattoo artists, immersed in one direction or another, with a wealth of experience; they are not just artisans, but researchers and keepers of traditions.

Consumers can choose from dozens of different styles. Grandiose international festivals and tattoo conventions. It's not just a way of self-expression - tattooing is finally becoming art again.

The art of indelible subcutaneous images is ancient, it has a history, it belongs to different cultures and dates back, according to various sources, from four to six thousand years.

To date, the oldest tattoo is the “cross” on the body of the “ice man Otzi”, discovered in 1991 in the Tyrolean Alps. The age of the mummy is approximately 5300 years.

Egyptian tattooed mummies are somewhat younger. They date back to approximately the 2nd millennium BC. e. Images of the goddess Neith were found on figures recovered from the Seti monument in Libya.

Also, there is evidence of the existence of tattoos in Ancient China of the same period - approximately the 2nd millennium BC. e. Some historians believe that it was the Chinese tattoo that became the ancestor of the famous Japanese tattoo. Although clear information about this direction in art in Japan dates back to the 1st century AD. e.

By pushing paint under their skin, sophisticated geishas circumvented the ban on showing nudity. By covering themselves with colorful patterns, they created a kind of imitation of clothing, making their owners even more sexy and seductive. At the same time, only the face, palms and feet remained virgin.

In ancient times, body images indicated belonging to a particular tribe and helped determine the social status of its wearer. So, in New Zealand, tribal hunters applied permanent war paint. Which was also a sign of courage, valor and belonging to a family of hunters. Herodotus wrote about the Thracians: “Cuts on the skin signified noble birth; he who does not have them is not noble.”

In Scripture, in the book of Leviticus (19:28), the Jews are commanded: “For the sake of the dead, do not make cuts on your body and do not write on yourself.” The Nazis, after coming to power, also banned artistic tattooing as a phenomenon contrary to the National Socialist values of the state. The Nazis tattooed camp prisoners for the purpose of identification and further humiliation of human dignity, especially among Jewish believers. However, members of the criminal organization “SS” were also subjected to this procedure, and their blood type was pricked out on their skin.

After the end of the war, international investigative bodies identified Hitler's criminals, among other things, by these small marks on their bodies.

But we got ahead of ourselves.

Until we cooked Cook

Captain James Cook in the 18th century brought from Tahiti not only the “Great Omai” - a fully tattooed Tahitian who became a local sensation - but also the culture itself, along with the name. Not a single fair or traveling circus was now complete without tattooed art objects. By the middle of the 19th century, the place of the aborigines in the performances began to be taken by the Americans and Europeans themselves, covered in the works of local craftsmen.

By the end of the 19th century, tattooing had become so popular in the United States that in 1891, Samuel O'Reilly patented the first electric tattoo machine. With the advent of the device, the speed has increased, the work has become easier, the cost is lower, and the income is higher. Tattoo parlors appeared, which no longer made tattoos special, only for the privileged on the one hand, but also destroyed the association with a shameful stigma, on the other.

After Cook, the term “tattoo” became generally accepted among various nations and quickly spread throughout the globe.

The encyclopedic dictionary of F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron indicates that the word “tattoo” is of Polynesian origin: “ta” is a picture, “atu” is a spirit. “Ta-atu”, “tattoo” - a picture-spirit. The term “tattoo” first appeared in the Dictionary of Medicine, prepared by the Belgian Pierrot Nysten, in 1856. And then Emil Litre introduced it into the famous “Dictionary of the French Language”

XX century

In the 20th century the First World War made the tattoo incredibly popular. Between battles, soldiers created images on various parts bodies. It is possible that in peacetime many of them would not have decided to do this. But during the war, everyone thought about their loved ones and what would happen in case of a sad outcome. No one wanted to go missing so that his possibly mutilated or torn into pieces body could be identified and brought home to his mother, wife and children, and they, in turn, sent on their final journey.

The post-war popularity of crude tattooing among the lower strata of the population destroyed the fashion for subcutaneous pictures among the elite. And even the middle class did its best to hide objects of past pride under multi-layered clothes.

Only thanks to rock music, bikers and revolutionary-minded youth of the 50s and 60s, tattoos began to gain incredible popularity again. They began to make films where simple pictures were adorned on the bodies of sex symbols.

For artistic photography, they began to resort to body art to create a brutal image. In 1970, the first tattooed person appeared on the cover of the Rolling Stones. This was the artist and founder of the tattoo museum, Lyle Tuttle. Many rock stars in those days became the proud owners of his works, including Cher, Janis Joplin, Henry Fonda.

From Rus' to Russia

The only message about body paintings in Rus' was found in the “Notes of a Traveler to the Volga” by the Arab writer Ibn Fadlan in 920−921: “I saw the Rus when they arrived on their trade business and settled down near the Atyl River. ... And from the edge of one of them’s nails to his neck, it’s all green: trees, images and the like.”

In addition to this mention, tattooing in Russia appeared only in the 11th century, when the guards lieutenant Count Fyodor Tolstoy, at a parking lot near the island of Nukagiwa, during a trip around the world, brought a local master to the ship “Nadezhda” and scored his entire body. Many sailors followed his example, which “paralyzed” the team. Tattooing in those days was done painfully by making incisions with shell fragments and pouring caustic coloring pigments into the tattoo. The crew was disabled. The schedule of the campaign was going down the drain. The ship's captain, Ivan Kruzenshtern, was indignant. In the future, this added brightness to the count’s stories, when he willingly showed off his body in aristocratic salons at the request of guests.

By the end of the century, tattoos in Russia became a symbol of the aristocracy. On December 8, 1906, St. Petersburg nobleman Evgeny Pavlovich Vakhrushev submitted a petition to the head of the main medical department with a request to officially allow him to engage in tattooing. After a short correspondence, he became the first legal tattoo artist in Russia.

While the upper strata of the capital's citizens were enjoying their aristocratic marks, convicts on Sakhalin started a long process of tattoos transitioning from fashion to prison life.

They painted the so-called “Sakhalin pictures”. Then the initiative was picked up by the Alexander Central in the Irkutsk province, and after the October Revolution, the tattoo became a “bourgeois relic of the tsarist regime.”

Until the end of the Great Patriotic War tattoos were associated exclusively with the asocial layer, where the thieves’ body symbols were “passport”, “dossier”, “letters”, and “order books”.

After the Victory, many heroes returned from penal battalions: on their clothes there were orders and medals, under their tunics there was a criminal record. This somewhat softened the attitude of the respectable population towards subcutaneous “painting”.

In the post-war years, thieves' songs, Vysotsky's poems and the film "Seryozha" (1960) attracted tattoos to the urban folklore of the creative intelligentsia.

By the 80s, the bodies of the Soviet rock elite were full of analogues of the Western recipe “sex, drugs & rock’n’roll”. And local craftsmen actively drew experience from the West. In 1995, the first tattoo convention took place in Moscow.

Royal Portakis

One of the key tattoo artists of the last century was George "The Professor" Barnett.

As a child, he heard sailors’ stories about their “anchors,” and was so impressed that at the age of 11 he began practicing on his classmates. Two years later, for this he was expelled from school.

After 12 years of wandering around the world, having accumulated enough experience from the masters of Japan, Africa, Asia and other places, he returns to England, opens his own tattoo studio and devotes himself entirely to his favorite business. His popularity grew so quickly that he received the title "King of Tattoo Artists."

His clients included King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King Frederick IX of Denmark, King George V of England, and the “Great Omi.” But his favorite client was his wife: “My dear wife, Edith, best model“, said George, who did not stop “beating” until his death at the age of 81.

Tattoos were on the bodies of respected personalities in different times. Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte - the founder of the current ruling royal dynasty of Sweden - was the owner of the inscription on French"Death to kings!"

The King of Sweden and Norway, Charles XIV Johan, had “Death to kings and tyrants!” written on his chest. Nicholas II has a sword on his chest, his wife’s name on his hand and a dragon brought from Japan on his forearm. In the same place - below the elbow - Thomas Edison had five dots, and Winston Churchill had an anchor. Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, wore the family coat of arms on his chest.

English King Harold II was identified after death only thanks to his tattoos. Stalin had a grinning skull. True, the leader traditionally acquired it in prison.

Even Joseph Kobzon could not resist the inscription “I will not forget my own mother” and five other tattoos in his stormy youth, so as not to be considered a weakling and a coward among the yard punks. Then, in his own words, he mixed it.

Maximalists

In 2006, Lucky Diamond Rich was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most tattooed person in the world. His body is covered almost 100% with tattoos, including his genitals, ears and mouth.

The idea of covering his entire body with tattoos came to him as a child, but he put it off for a long time until he got his first: an image of a small juggling mace on his thigh. From then on, he gradually got more and more tattoos until they covered his entire body, including his eyelids. After this, he began to cover his skin with light tattoos on top of dark ones, as well as adding colors.

In second place among men is Tom Leopard. He received this nickname due to the rainbow color of his skin, similar to the skin of a leopard. Many people thought he was crazy, but he didn't care.

He spent twenty-eight years of his life serving in the special forces. After which he realized that “everything is decay” and left the civilized world for the Isle of Skye to live alone in a hut, read books, walk through the forest on all fours and cover his shame only with a loincloth. His body was 99.9% covered with a spotted tattoo, fangs were inserted, which did not prevent him from traveling once a month by boat for the rest of his life for pension and food.

59-year-old Julia Gnuse is considered the most tattooed woman in the world. Her story is different from Lucky's. A rare genetic disease - porphyria - set the vector of Julia's life. It consists in the fact that the skin bursts under the influence of the sun. To hide her multiple scars, the thirty-year-old girl began covering her body with images of characters from American television shows, films and animations. More than four hundred tattoos saved Julia from complexes and ugly scars.

The well-known Rick Genest, aka Zombie Boy, became ill with the idea of death at the age of 15, after surgery to remove a tumor from his brain. At the age of 21, he met Frank Lewis, who came up with a concept for him, and for himself a stable income for the next 5-7 years.

The realization of Mr. Lewis's creative ambitions brought Rick worldwide fame, social accommodation in the fashion world and good fees.

The first person in Russia to get a tattoo on his eyeball was Muscovite Ilya Bomber. When applying such a tattoo, a needle is inserted into the eyeball and paint is poured in, which subsequently spreads on its own. This method is not safe, and there is always a risk of losing vision.

However, many will be surprised that this procedure is already more than two thousand years old. It was carried out to improve vision. Roman doctors treated her for white spots on her iris. The physician Galen performed eye surgery as early as 150 BC. e.

Before the 19th century, doctors began using ink needles to tattoo the cornea to restore deformities and opacities. Done various designs needles for the procedure - corrugated needle, cluster needle, first eye tattoo machines and so on. In the twentieth century, advertisements were full of opportunities to change eye color using a similar method.

The injection method of eye tattooing was invented by Shannon Laratt and Dr. Howie. The execution was first performed on July 1, 2007.

Fashion passes, tattoos remain

By means mass media fashion trends around the world are increasingly falling under the same standards. In particular, statistics have appeared on the number of tattooed people in a given geographical location.

More and more people want to get a sketch “like that guy’s.” But fashion is a temporary concept, tattoos are made forever. Removing them is painful, expensive and time consuming. As one master I know said: “The surest way to get rid of this kind of error is with an iron. I “scalped” it once, it healed, I polished off the scar with a laser and put on a new one. Fast, cheap and not a hassle." Tattoo removal is definitely one of the modern trends. There are different methods - from excision of the tattooed area, cryosurgery and electrocoagulation, which leave scars, to the safest laser today.

The first attempts to use a laser beam to remove tattoos were made back in the 60s of the last century by the American physicist Theodore Maiman. He successfully practiced this procedure for five years. Later, laser technologies developed, changed and improved, but the risk of being left with scars was still high.

Modern techniques are “ahead of the rest”, and risks are minimized. Although burns, hair loss in the treated area, subcutaneous hematomas, and sometimes increased brightness of the pattern sometimes occur, getting rid of wrong decisions using a beam is a convenient and indispensable method.

“People often come to me to delete relatively recent work. Simply because I’m tired,” says one of the prominent tattoo artists in Russia, innovator Igor GIN Razenkov. “Most of them are girls.” They treat tattoos like jewelry: today delicate flowers under a lace dress, in a year skulls under leather pants.”

According to Raznekov, some time ago a tattoo “performed certain functions, it was a certain status - it had to be earned,” and we are not talking about prison pictures.

“Today, tattoos have become ubiquitous, they have filled all sorts of niches and have become devalued,” continues the master. - Of course, I want more philosophy and style among the masses, not just decorations, for example, for the summer. This is the quality of the client."

People with a busy life, according to him, will never “drown themselves in tattoos, but will complement themselves with them.” There are plenty of ways to express yourself, and this is another good opportunity.

As noted above, tattooing has its roots in antiquity and for centuries has been a faithful companion of various classes, among many peoples, at all times, on all continents, in all kinds of cultures. At the same time, modern society still does not fully understand tattoos.

And as you know, what we don’t know scares and repels. That is why more and more people are divided into two extreme categories: those whose skin is virgin and pure, and those whose bodies have fewer and fewer gaps.

“You will be surprised how many people in Moscow still come and ask if they will be mistaken for “prisoners” if they get this or that idea,” the head of the My Way Tattoo studio, Alexey Mokrov, shared with Reedus. “And despite the prevailing opinion, today subcutaneous painting is a growing trend around the world, including in Russia.”

At the same time, tattooing, according to the entrepreneur, has ceased to be taboo in people’s minds. “We are actively trying to form the right idea about in this direction art, convey the correct information, recreate the cultural layer,” explained Mokrov. - Such ambitions led us to the idea of opening the first tattoo museum in Moscow.

The task is not only to educate city residents on this topic, but the main thing is to destroy incompetent opinion.”

“Each client has his own motivation,” continues Alexey. - Our task is to provide everything for this the necessary conditions on the highest level. A lot of people want to make themselves more beautiful this way.”

At eighteen to twenty years old, he says, clients often want to express their protest: to parents, society, political movements, or to demonstrate their sympathies and hobbies; after twenty-two - twenty-four - the approach is already more conscious. “Although it happens in different ways,” adds the specialist. “Sometimes it’s just expression, which I also respect endlessly.”

Igor Razenkov, in turn, likes to repeat: fashion is quality. For everything else he has a laser.