NEW ORLEANS — You’ll never guess which Louisiana historical figure was covered in tattoos.
That’s just one of the many interesting facts I learned at The New Orleans Tattoo Studio & Museum inside of Good Work Tattoos on St. Claude Avenue.
The man with all of the knowledge tattooed in his brain is Adam Montegut.
“I started just wanting to kind of document something that was around me that nobody else was kind of pulling together,” explained Montegut.
That’s why he started collecting and organizing artifacts and old photos following Hurricane Katrina.
He’s also absorbed a lot of information about tattoos through the decades.
In the late 1970s, there were a couple of firebombing [incidents] in the French Quarter, which is why there is no tattooing in the French Quarter. The city issued a moratorium banning shops within the quarter,” explains Montegut.
He goes on to reveal facts about tattooing from back when Louisiana was being colonized.
“We have some written descriptions of one of our founding fathers of Louisiana,” Montegut says.
Journal entries about Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the French explorer and founder of New Orleans, described this historic figure as being covered in ink.
“There are accounts from Henri de Tonti and some of his traveling companions that tell about Bienville’s tattoos and how he had a serpent that went around his body and markings on his stomach like words from Constantine,” explains Montegut.
Bienville’s decision to get these designs probably came from the tribes and colonies that he was aligned with.
So, if you love history and desire some new ink, then you can visit the Good Work Tattoo Shop and Museum and choose a tattoo design on the flash wall that is over 100 years old.
Click here for more information.
