FEDERICO BERNARDESCHI TATTOOS

Frederico Bernardeschi, an Italian professional soccer player, now playing for Juventus, approached Murran Billi around 5 years ago when he played for Fiorentina about tattooing a sleeve. Murran designed a unique religious sleeve for Bernardeschi’s right arm as his religion is a massive part of his life. Federico Bernardeschi tattoos feature several religious icons, with Murran’s favorite being the knight holding three lilies in place of a sword. The lilies represent Bernardeschi’s Florentine and Tuscan roots. The tattoo was a hit with the football player. It can be seen in photos all over the internet, but, Murran’s job wasn’t done there…

Next up, Bernardeschi asked his tattoo artist to do a cover-up sleeve on his left arm. “Funnily enough” Murran says, “the highest volume of requests I receive these days are for big cover-up sleeves like this.” In this case, it was to cover up many unwanted tattoo mistakes the player had done when he was much younger. Initially, Bernardeschi pushed for a full solid black sleeve, but Billi didn’t think it was the right thing for him. So instead, he suggested an engraving of Acanthus leaves (Filigree), ornamental plants found throughout Florence, with a medieval touch. The final result of the tattoo was an original masterpiece with far more personal meaning than a solid black sleeve. What’s more, you’d never guess it was a cover-up.

A few years later, once Bernardeschi transferred to Juventus, he got back in touch with tattoo artist Murran Billi about a back piece. The final tattoo featured simple lines themed on Acanthus leaves to link to his sleeve, with a cross over the spine and angels on each side with prayers down his rib cage. As with all the soccer players’ other tattoos, the back piece was all in black with no color. The impact of Bernardeschi‘s two sleeves and the back piece is an exceptional work of art.