Tattoo

The development of tattoo art: from the Middle Ages to the present day. Tattoo art.

With the spread of Christianity, the golden age of tattooing came to an end. As a result, the tattoo was outlawed and began to be considered an attribute of barbarism and paganism. Naturally, such an ancient tradition could not be stopped overnight..

At the beginning of the 13th century, tattoos were done by booth and circus artists, jesters, showing painted body parts and delighting a decent audience.

The development of tattoo art - examples in the photo

The development of tattoo art – examples in the photo

The religious ban on tattoos was not terrible for the representatives of this profession, since acting in itself was considered a devilish craft..

During the era of the Crusades, knights pricked themselves a cross at the bend of the arm or even on the forehead, emphasizing their belonging to the Christian faith.

However, the Holy Inquisition quickly put an end to this vicious practice of disfiguring the human body – the creation of the Lord.

Religion gave pilgrims another loophole for tattooing.

The development of tattoo art: from the Middle Ages to the present day – all the most important

In the Middle Ages, pilgrims had no other way to prove that they had really visited holy places other than by showing a tattoo made there. The most common tattoo was a cross, but there were also more original drawings – St. George defeating the dragon, the Mother of God and the Child Jesus, St. Peter.

Finally, a “barbaric” tattoo was used, naturally, to stigmatize criminals. If in antiquity branding was an extreme measure, a cruel and shameful punishment, then in the Middle Ages, when the Inquisition came up with many much more severe tortures, the tattoo began to serve simply to identify the criminal. Card cheaters were branded with a hexagon, runaway sailors were pricked with a hook, and poachers – horns.

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At the end of the 18th century, there was literally an explosion in the popularity of tattoos in Europe. The fact is that in 1771 Captain James Cook returned from his first voyage to Australia and New Zealand, taking with him a “souvenir” – the Great Omai, an aboriginal, covered from head to toe with tattoos.

The influence of the church in that era was no longer as great and comprehensive as in the Middle Ages, and the extravagant native simply could not help but attract the attention of the tattoo-hungry European public..