Eww. Yes, I supposed you could, if one has such a morbid fascination. Ewwwww.

I can understand how you'd want to remember that as a sentimel thing, but uh, how about just a photograph of the tatoo? That's quite possibly the most disturbing thing I think I could imagine walking into someone's house and seeing on the wall. <shudder>

I think I've heard of that. But if someone died really old woudn't that be all saggy- and ok- I'm grossing myself out...ewwww- you sicko

i dont no if this is possible...why dont you jus get the same tattoo as the person who died so you will still be able to remember the tattoo and the person.

I think a picture of the tat will do.

Um... ew. You can but it will become warped over time. Take a picture. Again... ew.

im sure you could.....if it makes you happy....go for it

With the permission of the family, I think that would be okay. But the picture frame must have formalin or the skin would just rot. Personally I think the idea is gross, but if it's not illegal then that's okay. Oh, the person who died must not have any contagious disease.

i think you would need in writing the dead persons permission... i dont think you can go around cutting peoples skin dead or alive without their permissison

Ewww. Are you Hannibal Lector ??

weeeelll.... I doubt the skin would be able to object, but still--

Actually this has been done before. I saw a story on this person who owned a biker bar. He passed away and his wife had a section of his tattoo's removed and placed in a picture frame over the bar so everyone who knew him could feel that he was still around. I forgot what all was done to treat the skin, but they said it was like leather when it was done. I guess it all has to be in writing before the individual passes on. It sounds sick to me. Good Luck.

cool question! points for making me laugh :) i don't know if it can be done in the country you live in, (dont even know where that is) but it would be a nice thing to put in a ghost story.

I'm sorry, but that's kind of creepy. I agree with everyone else who said "take a picture of the tattoo".

You've obviously forgotten the lesson of the great Australian entertainer Rolf Harris who said "Tan me hide when I'm dead, Fred, tan me hide when I'm dead. So we tanned his hide when he died Clyde, (Spoken) And that's it hanging on the shed! All together now: Tie me kangaroo down, sport, tie me kangaroo down...."

All kidding aside, YOU can't do anything. If the deceased had made arrangements beforehand to have it done, clearing it with the law and so forth, perhaps. But the law would consider it desecrating a body if you or even the family did this. I don't know what the prohibitions and penalties would be in your jurisdiction.

I had a client once who was completely covered in tattoos each with its own story. His body was a living record of his life. He wanted me to draft a will where he would be skinned and his skin would be tanned and put in a frame for his son. Even if that were possible, I quickly learned there was no one licensed or skilled enough to do it. My answer is probably not. While it may be legally possible, it may be almost impossible to get it done correctly. Also a will with that provision might call into question the competency of the person who wrote it.

These people below that commented are a bunch of closed minded sheep. The idea of cow skin or sheep skin or a fu coat on their body isnt gross so why would a human framed art peice be gross? keeping ashes of a dead loved one is kinda creepy to me, i mean its a burned body in a jar! Tanned and preserved skin with art on it in an artistic frame or shadow box would be a beautiful remembrance as well as a conversational piece. I am looking into how to have it done as well. My husband and i have several tattoos and we have always wanted to do this and pass it to our son. I can have what ever i want done to my body when im dead, i just have to find someone to do it....i just cant believe the negative and shallow answers some people have left. Skin isnt creepy, thats dumb.

i guess you could, but that seems rather bizarre. why not appreciate the tattoo from a photo? your ? reminds me of a story of ilse koch. during wwii she was known as the infamous bitch of buchenwald, for her sadistic behavior. she was the wife of the kommandant. her hobby included collecting lampshades, book covers, and gloves made from the skins of specially selected concentration camp inmates, and shrunken human skulls. she would select and murder prisoners with distinctive tattoos on her rides around the camp. i am not comparing you or anyone thinking of saving tattoos to having a twisted mind like ilse koch; but i cant help but be reminded of that particular story, which always haunted me.

Strangely enough, a man sold his the other day to another person, to be collected upon death: GENEVA (AFP) - A Swiss man has sold an elaborate Virgin Mary tattoo on his back to a German collector, with the understanding it can be exhibited three times yearly, a Zurich gallery said Monday. The extraordinary transaction -- which gallery owner Jutta Nexdorf claims is the first of its kind -- fetched 150,000 euros (219,000 dollars), with the other main stipulation being that the 35-hour work can be removed from the bearer's skin upon death and handed to its owner. The owner will also be allowed to sell the tattoo, created by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye and notable for depicting the mother of Jesus with a lifeless skull. Proceeds from the sale are being shared among the gallery, tattoo bearer Tim Steiner and Delvoye, Nexdorf told AFP. The tattoo will go on show for the first time next week in Singapore and Shanghai. ============ I am not surprised that the buyer was German, however. If I were the German government, I would be checking his links to Nazi organisations, as this is what the camp commanders did in many of the concentration camps, making lampshades of them: "The day on which the chambers were ventilated (i.e. the day after the gassing took place) the medical orderlies under the direction of the camp dentist started an organised mutilation of the corpses, i.e. the removal of all gold teeth, and in the case of women the hair was cut off. Whether any skin was removed for the manufacture of lampshades as happened in other camps, is unknown to Aumeier." http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/Aumeier/100845.html

Call me a close minded lamb but i think that's ultra disgusting!

Taxidermist. I'm having my bodysuit done when i go.Life-size manequin w/suit to be sold to private buyer with terms including, but not limited to gallery/public viewing. Have it in writing, notorized & approved by lawyer(s) familiar with local, state and federal laws/health regulations. It can be done. Very few in the united states are skilled and willing to perform this post-mortem procedure. Having it done outside of the states is an option, however, prompt preservation & delivery of the "canvas" is extremely critical. Art is often times controversial. In this case it is the canvas that is the center of controversy. A muse in life, an artist in death.

If you are cool with that, it doesn't mean that I have to be.