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The unique flayed skin of an anonymous man has revealed unexpected details about his life. Analysis of the tattoos on his body reveals he was French, a seafarer, loved a woman named Flourine and may have died in prison.

The gruesome artefact is currently held in a private collection in London. It consists of most of the skin of the man鈥檚 torso and limbs, which was nailed to a wooden board. Somebody then added horse hair stuffing between the skin and the board in order to produce a 3D-like appearance somewhat reminiscent of a complete body.

The skin鈥檚 current curator has tended to refer to the skin as Monsieur Bonheur, because the word 鈥�Bonheur鈥� (meaning 鈥渉appiness鈥� in French) is tattooed above the man鈥檚 groin. Curious about the skin鈥檚 history, the curator contacted Martin Smith at Bournemouth University, UK, and asked him to investigate.

鈥淎s far as we are aware, the skin is unique in Europe,鈥� says Smith. Before the study, little was known about its origin or date, except that it was acquired in France and that some of the tattoos included French text, he says. But other tattoos were too difficult to discern with the naked eye.

Using a spectroscopic technique, Smith and his colleagues dated the wooden board to around 1861. They studied the skin under different coloured lights and filters developed for forensic investigations, as well as under infrared light. This revealed the details of around 60 tattoos.

The words 鈥�Vive la Flotte鈥� (鈥淟ong live the fleet鈥�) and an anchor appear to identify the man as a seafarer, says Smith, while a portrait might represent Flourine, a woman mentioned twice, including in the line 鈥�Flourine Je T鈥檃ime鈥� (鈥淔lourine I love you鈥�). One tattoo shows a uniformed man chained to a pillar inscribed with the year 1883 and a bird holding the word 鈥�尝颈产别谤迟茅鈥� (鈥渇reedom鈥�).

鈥淢any of the preserved samples of tattooed skin collected in France and elsewhere during the 19th century were taken from convicts who had died in prison,鈥� says Smith. 鈥淭his latter tattoo could be interpreted as consistent with such a circumstance, apparently depicting a prisoner either sentenced or perhaps due for release in 1883.鈥�

After its preservation, the man鈥檚 skin may have been exhibited as some sort of curio to fascinate or appal 19th-century Europeans. 鈥淚t may be that this overall 鈥榩reparation鈥� represents something similar to what were called 聽in the US during the 19th and early 20th century,鈥� says Smith.