These visual treats are among the oldest surviving fashion statements. Tribal chieftains of yore had them etched all over their body and even their face. Even the Egyptian pharaohs fancied them. And they weren't just a fashion fad, in many parts of the world they had significant values and purposes ranging from religious requirements to signs of bravery and sexuality, a means of protection against evil and more.
Tattoos can be permanent or temporary. While many prefer having temporary tattoos, there are a large number of tattoo enthusiasts including celebrated actors and models who have colourful and bold tattoos permanently etched on various parts of their body. And there are a fraction of them who have their entire body tattooed.
Megan Fox
She is one helluva tattoo lover and has at least seven of them.
One on her back that reads "We will all laugh at gilded butterflies", which has been inspired by a speech made by King Lear to his daughter Cordelia in Shakespeare's King Lear.
The best one among them, a beautiful sketch of Marilyn Monroe, can be seen on her right arm.
A little colourful one just above her right ankle is of a crescent moon on a star.
There's yet another much below her waist - her ex-boyfriend Brian's name.
A tribal tattoo on her left wrist symbolises the overlapping of two waves; the actress isn't too happy with this one and is considering removing it.
At the back of her neck is a miniature Chinese tattoo which is representative of strength.
A seventh tattoo, an inscription "there was once a little girl who never knew love until a boy broke her HEART" can be seen on her left rib cage.
There are rumours that the Transformers star, rated as one of the sexiest in the world, has more tattoos on her. Watch this space!
Angelina Jolie
Hollywood's tattoo queen has a spate of tattoos etched all over her.
The One in Gothic script seen on her back that says "Know your rights" is the title of a single by her favourite punk rock band The Clash.
Another just below her left shoulder in Khmer script was done by an artist in Pathum Thani in Thailand and has a spiritual context.This was done to protect her and her adopted Vietnamese son Maddox from evil elements. Translated to English, the it reads as "May your enemies run far away from you.If you acquire riches, may they remain yours always.Your beauty will be that of Apsara.Wherever you may go, many will attend, serve and protect you, surrounding you on all sides."
Four geographical co-ordinates on her left upper arm are the locations on earth where her four children hail from.
There's another on her right arm which is in Arabic. Believed to have been done to conceal an older tattoo, this one in Arabic means Determination.
Angelina Jolie had XIII tattooed on her left underarm to show that she does not care for superstitions. Perpendicular to it she has V MCMXL (Roman for May 1940). This is to pay tribute to the quote "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat" made by Winston Churchill on 13 May 1940.
On her left forearm, the actress has the words of American playwright Tennessee Williams, "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages".
And there are more tattoos, a cross on her waist, an 'h' on her left wrist and a huge one of a Bengal tiger on her lower back to celebrate her becoming a Vietnamese citizen.
The actress is contemplating having more tattoos in the future.
Rihanna
Besides a tattoo depicting stars on her back, the singer has at least a dozen more on various parts of her body. A one depicting a music note on her left foot, her Zodiac sign Pisces behind her right ear, a Sanskrit hymn on her hip, a star on her left ear, love inscribed on her left middle finger and shhh inscribed on her right index finger, "Freedom is God" tattooed in Arabic on her hip, a skull on her left ankle, a beautiful Indian-style design on her left hand, a gun (oops!) below her right arm and more. Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox had better watch out!
Barbara Mori
The ravishing Mexican star has a snake tattoo encircling her left ankle. She also has tattoo on her neck and a tattoo of 4 crosses on her right forearm and a recent one done on her right foot that symbolises sibling love. Her brother got a similar 'sibling love' motif done on his leg.
Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice
Posh Spice's latest tattoo is the one behind her neck which is in Hebrew and when translated to English reads as "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine, that feedeth among the lilies". There's another with her husband David Beckham's initials on her left wrist. There is reportedly another "8th May" on another wrist, the day she and her husband first got intimate. A tattoo of four stars on her lower back represents her, her husband and children.
Natalie Portman
Popular for her role of Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, the New York-based actress sports a tattoo NY on her left wrist.
David Beckham
When it comes to tattoos, the English football star seems to be in the same league as Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox. All his tattoos have to do with his love for his family.
There's one on his left inner arm, of Victoria, etched in Hindi script.
A very attractive one on his torso depicts Jesus Christ moving towards the Cross, which has been inspired by a painting by Matthew R Brooks.
A tattoo of a crucifix stands out on his back.
A superb tattoo of a guardian angel sits pretty on his right upper arm and another of a guardian angel tattooed close to the names of his three children Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz on his shoulder.
Number 7 tattooed as Roman numeral seven on his right inner arm is the number of the jersey he sported when playing for Manchester United.
There are more inscriptions and more tattoos on David Beckham and more to come in the near future.
Eva Longoria Parker
The Desperate Housewives star has a cross tattooed on her lower back, Roman numerals on her right wrist and a star on her left wrist. She also a small tattoo on the back of her neck that reads as NINE, the number of her ex-husband Tony Parker's jersey.
Rumer Willis
Budding Hollywood actress Rumer Willis has the words Be Present tattooed on her left rib-cage area and another on her right wrist. In addition to that, she has a tattoo of a bird on her right shoulder blade and a tattoo of a rosary on the ring finger of her left hand.
Drew Barrymore
The American actress has as many as six unique tattoos etched on her.
On her left hip she has a bouquet of flowers, butterflies on her stomach, a crescent moon on one of her toes, a cross with vines entwined around it on her lower right leg and a cross and an angel on her lower back.
Pamela Anderson
The buxom Baywatch star has around four tattoos on her. The most famous of her tattoos is the barbed wire tattoo on her left arm. She has a design running down her back, one around one of her fingers and another on her left heel.
Melanie Griffith
The actress has husband Antonio Banderas' first name tattooed in a heart design on her right arm and a floral tattoo on her inner left ankle.
Wayne Rooney
The English football star has tattoos on both his arms. The one on his right arm is a Celtic cross with his wife's name (Colleen) etched above it. A tattoo of St. George's flag adorns his left arm. Rooney had this done to show his patriotism. Another tattoo on his right lower arm is the title of the album of his favourite group the Stereophonics. It reads as 'Just Enough Education To Perform'.
Justin Timberlake
The strapping singer-actor-songwriter has a total of six tattoos on him - a prominent cross tattoo on his right arm and a very illustrative tattoo with a guardian angel and some script on the nape of his neck stretching across either shoulder, and there are smaller tattoos celebrating the successful releases of various albums.
Johnny Depp
The versatile actor belongs to the Hollywood club of tattoo buffs with a whopping 14 tattoos on him.
There's an elaborate one with a head of a Cherokee Indian (Depp is of Cherokee Indian descent) on his right forearm with Wino Forever inscribed above it. Interestingly the Wino Forever tattoo once read Winona Forever when the actor was in a relationship with actress Winona Ryder. He later got the -ona removed.
There are three little rectangles on his right index finger which the actor says are a phone doodle.
He has number 3 tattooed on his left hand. The actor says that the number 3 is of special significance to him and is magical.
An intriguing tattoo is a question mark that he has on his right ankle.
A recent one is the etching of the sentence 'Silence Exile Cunning' on his left arm which is from the James Joyce novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
A danger sign of skull and cross bones stares from his lower right leg.
As a tribute to one of his movies The Brave, Depp has the Brave Symbol on the inside of his right arm.
And as a tribute to the flick The Pirates of the Carribean, Depp has a symbol of a swallow on his right forearm. In the days of yore, swallows gave men at sea an indication that land was nearby. Below the symbol, Depp has had his son Jack's name engraved.A famous tattoo of a heart and overlapping triangles adorns his right forearm and a banner running across it has his mother's name Betty Sue ethched on it.
Amy Winehouse
The songstress' body is adorned by myriad tattoos all over. Among her many tattoos are a bust of a nude woman on her left forearm with Daddy's Girl and a large letter U tattooed above; a singing bird on her right inner arm with a message that reads "Never clip my wings"; picture of a girl on her right forearm with hearts all over and just next to it the picture of a nude woman holding a huge fan; an anchor on her right hip with the words Hello Sailor around it; and a pocket on the left side of her chest with Blake's etched over it.
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt has two little tattoos one on her left heel and the other on her lower back. The first one is a writing "I am..." and the second one a pretty butterfly pattern.
Robbie Williams
The British pop singer is another tattoo enthusiast and has got more than 12 tattoos on him.
A very prominent one is a beautiful Maori design on his left forearm and it is representative of the ups and downs of life.
On his left underarm is an illustration of Jesus Christ being crucified.
On his right upperarm, Robbie Williams has got a huge lion tattoo symbolic of the animal's power. Over it is inscribed "Elvis, grant me serenity" and under it there's a banner "Born to be mild."
Robbie Williams loves The Beatles and hence the lyrics of the band's famous hit All You Need Is Love, on his lower back.
On the nape of his neck, the singer has got an eye of Horus tattoo to thwart evil eyes.
And there are other tatoos on his left underarm (and emblem), on his stomach (a pair of swallows symbolic of loyalty), on his hip (a Celtic cross), on his fingers (the world LOVE), on his chest (a phrase CHACUN A SON GOUT [meaning 'everyone has got his own taste]) and more.
Nicole Richie
The multi-talented Nicole Richie has a few simple tattoo designs on her self. She has Ritchie tattooed on the nape of her neck and above it a pretty red ribbon, a pair of feathers on her back, a cross on her lower back and a colourful tiara on her waist. A striking tattoo is the one on her left foot is of a rosary with a detailed cross. She has Virgin tattooed on her right wrist because she is a Virgo.
Lindsay Lohan
The attractive actress has some delicate tattoos drawn on her. A tiny heart close to her thumb of her left hand, a slighty bigger star on her left wrist; 'la bella vita' (meaning beautiful life) inscribed on her lower back; and the word 'breathe'(done in very light ink) on her right wrist. And there's a tattoo on one of her fingers that reads as Shhh.
Source: India Syndicate
Image credits: Reuters, AP, santabanta.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment