Video: How tattoos appeared in Russia, and what drawings were on the body of Russian tsars
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Today, the hobby for tattoos has become widespread, and this often causes discontent among the older generation, because how many decades ago, "tattoos" were often made not so much for decoration as "with meaning" or as a keepsake - in the army, for example. However, it turns out that in Russia, tattoos for decoration were done in past centuries, and even crowned persons. The dragon on the forearm of the last Russian emperor looks very modern.
In 921-922, a traveler from Baghdad, the diplomat Ibn-Fadlan, arrived in the country of the Rus. The traveler described the locals as people with many tattoos. Our ancestors, who settled along the banks of the Volga, according to him, had many pictures-amulets on their bodies. According to the diplomat, all the hands of the men, from nails to neck, were covered with images. Historians believe that, perhaps, for our ancestors, tattoos were indeed a common practice, but they were done for a reason. Each drawing carried a deep meaning. Tattoos were applied to the body, most likely, by special people - the Magi. Tools were made from animal bones or sacred tree wood. Pictures on the body were not only a talisman, they showed a person's belonging to a certain genus. After the adoption of Christianity, tattoos were banned. Although in some areas in the Balkans, this tradition has survived to this day.
In the Middle Ages in Europe, tattoos were the special distinguishing marks of sailors - they brought these special "trophies" from distant eastern and tropical countries. Tsar-reformer Peter I, adopting foreign habits, managed to pay attention to this, unprecedented in patriarchal Russia, custom. According to some reports, the autocrat made himself a small tattoo in the form of an ax on his arm and then found an unusual practical application for tattoos. By decree of the tsar in 1712, all recruits, when they were sent to the troops, began to make special distinctive marks on their wrists. The technique of execution, however, was not very humane - on the left hand, at the base of the thumb, a cross was pricked, and then gunpowder was rubbed into the wound - the result after healing was durable.
This was done to prevent the escape of young soldiers from the army. By the way, since the times of Peter the Great, instead of hot iron, criminals began to be branded in a similar way - with the help of special stamps, on which steel needles were planted to form letters. Until 1846, the wounds were also rubbed with gunpowder, and later - with a composition of indigo and mascara specially invented in the medical council. Culturologists K. Z. Trapaidze and V. B. Malinin believe that it was these marks that became the prototype of tattoos that appeared later in the prison environment.
Until the 19th century, reliable information that some of the Russian tsars still had tattoos did not survive - probably because of the way criminals were branded, in our country, drawings and letters on the body in the old days were associated only with vagrants and robbers. Sometimes there is evidence that Catherine II had an intimate tattoo, but perhaps this is just a myth. But the tattoo that adorned the forearm of the last Russian emperor is well known.
Nicholas II had a huge oriental dragon on his arm. The future ruler of Russia got himself a tattoo shortly before his 23rd birthday in Japan. In 1891 the Tsarevich traveled in the East. In Vladivostok, he took part in the ceremony of starting the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and then visited several countries: India, Singapore, China and Japan. On May 4, in Nagasaki, the Tsarevich got himself a tattoo of a black dragon with yellow horns, green legs and a red belly.
Two of the best craftsmen were brought aboard the cruiser Pamyat Azov. In Japan, noble people never got tattoos, so the craftsmen were surprised at the choice of the future emperor, but set to work. Seven hours later, the Tsarevich had a huge drawing on his arm. Nikolay was very pleased with the result and in the future he always willingly demonstrated a foreign decoration on his skin. In black and white photographs, the tattoo was not so noticeable, but after the coloring procedure, which old photographs are often subjected to today, the tattoo on the autocrat's hand looks quite modern.
There are several versions about such a bold decision, but one seems to be the most reliable: most likely, a similar tattoo was from the cousin of Nicholas II - the English king George V. He also got a tattoo in Japan a few years earlier. The cousins were very similar and were always willing to emphasize this. So, perhaps, the future Russian tsar "stuffed" his dragon out of solidarity, although the English cousin of his dragon usually did not show it.
The intricacies of royal blood ties can be amazing. How did it happen that Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain is related to Nicholas IIand Prince William to Nicholas I.
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