Why in pre-revolutionary Russia they had a negative attitude towards tattoos, and How the Dragon appeared on the body of Nicholas II

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Tattooing has been and remains a controversial topic in the visual body art context. Someone calls the presence of subcutaneous drawings anti-aesthetics, others associate tattoos with part of the prison subculture. But there are also those who put the costs of paying for a tattoo service into the regular budget. The question is not in tastes and assessments, but in historical facts. In different periods, the tattoo changed from convict to noble. At some point, injecting paint under the skin was prohibited by religious canons. And after a while, an impressive tattoo adorned the body of the Russian emperor himself.

Unconfirmed evidence of tattooed Rus

There are no reliably established facts of the traditional decoration of bodies with tattoos among the Slavic tribes. Some sources provide the only evidence in the form of notes of a certain Arab traveler named Ibn Fadlan. In 921-922 he allegedly visited the Volga Bulgaria. Then, according to his own statements, the stranger met the Rus merchants, leaving notes. In particular, he argued that these people, from neck to fingertips, consisted of cutaneous images in the form of trees, natural bodies, and animals.

The information, of course, prompts thought, but the author does not specify that he saw exactly tattoos, and not just drawings. And, in the opinion of some historians, the details and turns of Ibn Fadlan's narration give rise to doubt that it is precisely about the Slavs of Ancient Russia. It is not traced in the written sources of the Slavic tattoo traditions in later periods.

Arrival of tattoos to Russia with branding

Something remotely similar to tattoos was outlined in Russia only with the arrival of the 18th century. Since that time, the stigma of arrested criminals has become especially common. Once this was done very simply: the metal brand was heated to redness, and certain signs or words were burned on the open area of the human body (like a brand on cattle).

With the new century, the process has been modernized. A wooden plate was specially made, on which needles were installed in a certain order. Such a simple device was imposed on the convict, followed by a sharp blow with a fist or hammer to inflict a deep wound on the person. Black powder was rubbed into the resulting holes, which remained under the healed skin. In such a simple way, the criminals acquired the first kind of tattoos. But not only thieves and murderers were stamped.

In 1712, Peter I ordered the recruits to be stamped with a cruciform mark on their upper limbs so that they could be identified in case of desertion. As a rule, the cross was located at the base of the left thumb. Such stigma was practiced until the 20s of the 18th century, causing negative reactions among the population. Orthodox believers regarded this ritual as "the seal of the Antichrist."

The role of sailors in the spread of tattoo culture

In the 18th century, European Christian missionaries traveled to distant corners of the planet to instill their own faith in the "wild" tribes. In memory of overseas travel, sailors acquired tattoos in tribal societies. Captain J. Cook contributed to the flourishing of the art of tattoos in European countries. Upon his return from another long voyage, the sailor brought from Tahiti both the common term "tattow" and "Great Omai", which was an entirely tattooed Tahitian. Very soon, this person, unusual for the European eye, became a sensation, being a truly living tattoo gallery. The moment came when not a single popular show, traveling circus or fair could do without a program with the participation of "tattooed savages".

The tone set by the imperial court of the 20th century

In the 19th century, spontaneity is gaining in fashion for tattoos among the progressive nobility. It will be most revealing to remember the knocked-out dragon of Nicholas II, which he not only did not hide, but also deliberately put on display. The tattoo appeared on the body of Nicholas in 1891 during a trip to Japan in the rank of a prince. The future emperor read about Japanese tattooists in a tourist guide, and immediately asked to take him to the local masters. A day later, a tattoo artist who arrived from Nagasaki applied a drawing on the right forearm of the Russian Tsarevich. The process did not stop for seven hours. A decade before that, a similar dragon on a Japanese trip had appeared on the body of King George V - as a twin of his cousin, similar to the last Russian monarch.

The tattoo reached even greater coverage with the arrival of the Civil War in Russia. The very nature of the war forced people to express their ideas as radically as possible. Among the Red Army fighters, the image on the left hand of a five-pointed star has become popular, as a new symbol of the new Soviet republic. The massive use of the star motive was explained not only by the ideological component in the spirit of the times, but also by the simplicity of execution. It seemed possible even for a beginner to fill in an uncomplicated contour. More complex in terms of the technique of application was a tattoo depicting a rider in Budenovka, with a saber in one hand and a large red banner with the emblem of the RSFSR in the other.

The servicemen made drawings on the skin, as they say, on the move, resting between fights. There were also beliefs about the fortune of certain symbols in battle. So, according to the conviction of the soldiers, images of horseshoes and icons brought luck in battle. There was a tattoo “Adam's head” in the army tattoo culture - a metaphorical image of a skull with bones crossed through it. Moreover, this symbol was in demand among the enemy of the Bolsheviks. For example, while on the territory of China, the famous white general Boris Annenkov inflicted the "Adam's head" on himself. The skull and bones became the symbol of his entire unit.

Modern celebrities are also very fond of tattoos. That's just some of them hide them, not wanting to make them public.