“The Primitive Ornament”. Debates and Collecting in the Birth of Criminology

The article reconstructs Cesare Lombroso's “discovery” of tattooing, from his pioneering interests in the 1860s to the subsequent inclusion of skin engravings among the factors indicating criminal tendencies during the development of criminal anthropology. The success of Lombroso's theories sparked a debate between the nascent criminology and encouraged the emergence of tattoo collections in Europe and America. Finally, the evolution of customs on the one hand, with the spread of tattoos outside barracks and prisons, and the theoretical shortcomings of Lombroso's theory on the other, led to the slow decriminalisation of tattooing during the 20th century.