Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.Modern Living: Tattoo Renaissance
As an art, they have been traced back 4,000 years to the Egyptians. They appear in the culture of the Polynesians, the Maoris of New Zealand, the Mayas and the Incas. King George V, Czar Nicholas II and King Frederik IX of Denmark wore them. For years they have adorned the arms and chests of sailors, roustabouts and construction workers. Now, after a decade or two of decline, tattoos are enjoying a renaissance. They have become the vogue of the counterculture.
The popularity of the ancient art among today's youth seems eminently logical to...
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