Michelangelo would be shocked. Then again, maybe not. Fabio Viale is a contemporary Italian sculptor who wants to have fun changing our perception of marble as a dense, cold, and inert medium traditionally associated with classical statuary, Michelangelo\u2019s David<\/em> being a case in point. In 2002, Viale sculpted a boat made out of marble. A marble boat? It not only floated but when an outboard motor was added, it also carried people. Since then, he has created marble artworks that look like rubber, wood and styrofoam. And now, copying the classical statuary he wants to make fun of, tattooed skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take for instance the classical Greek icon Laocoon And His Sons, <\/em>believed to have originated between 200BC and 70AD. Viale sculpted a copy, also in marble, removed the sons and added a full-body tattoo. It references the seven deadly sins in Dante\u2019s Inferno. \u201cIt\u2019s a meeting of life and death, between the sacred and the profane,\u201d he says about his replica. Vaile worked with chemists to determine a pigment that would penetrate the stone (marble is reasonably porous) and give it the appearance of a normal tattoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI realized it was very important not to paint it but to make the colour penetrate,\u201d says the artist.  \u201cOnly in this way could I reach the effect of the tattoo on human skin in the most realistic way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n