WomanCrush Wednesday // Artoria Gibbons

I'm always fascinated by vintage tattoo photos — they're great, right? Specifically Artoria (Anne) Gibbons. Artoria (such a great name!) was a circus "tattooed lady" in the 1920s and beyond. She grew up in Wisconsin and ended up marring Charles (Red) Gibbons.

Red made all of Artoria tattoos. Most of them were based off of Italian paintings — which I have a particular liking of given the state of tattooing at the time and because of my own Botticelli sleeve that is a work in progress. And of course, with all due respect, Artoria was a badass

Artoria died in March 1985. At the time of her death, she had worked as a tattooed lady for more than 50 years and was one of the last working tattooed ladies in the US.