SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam has been filled with a different sound in recent weeks...
(SOUNDBITE OF TATTOO GUN BUZZING)
DETROW: ...A tattoo gun. And the man behind the gun...
HENK SCHIFFMACHER: This is Henk in Amsterdam.
DETROW: ...Henk Schiffmacher, a well-known tattoo artist in the Netherlands and beyond. He has made his mark on many a celebrity.
SCHIFFMACHER: Like the Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam and things like that, so - Lady Gaga.
SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
But for the past two weeks, he's been focusing not on famous musicians, but on a 17th century Dutch painter, Rembrandt, as in, he's been tattooing Rembrandt sketches on the arms and backs and legs of anyone who can snatch up an appointment.
SCHIFFMACHER: We worked for almost two weeks straight, every day, making small Rembrandts.
DETROW: The tattoos cost anywhere from a hundred to 350 euros, and customers can choose from dozens of real Rembrandt sketches, not the full-color masterworks.
SCHIFFMACHER: Windmill - we did more than one windmill. We did his lions. We did his elephants.
DETROW: He even copied a full Rembrandt etching on one guy's back - not an easy feat for tattoo artists.
SCHIFFMACHER: Not too much pimples, not too - strange - no scars, no other tattoos.
PFEIFFER: The Rembrandt House Museum is set in the home where the painter lived for 19 years. When he's there, Schiffmacher says he feels a connection.
SCHIFFMACHER: You just jump back a couple of ages into time, and you're in this time machine. And he ain't home, of course, but his spirit is still in the woodworks of this building.
PFEIFFER: But would Rembrandt's spirit approve of his detailed sketches and etchings being turned into tattoos?
SCHIFFMACHER: Yeah. That's a good question. I personally think he would like it. He was a very curious type of person. I don't know if he could have learned how to tattoo, but, like (laughter).
DETROW: In the Netherlands, Schiffmacher says everyone learns about Rembrandt, how he mastered light, shadow and expressive figures.
SCHIFFMACHER: When I was a little kid, I would make a little drawing, and my grandfather would just look over my shoulder and go, oh, whoa, whoa. That's a real Rembrandt. Yeah. I can say that he changed me.
DETROW: And decades later, he is extending the artist's legacy at a fraction of the price of an original.
SCHIFFMACHER: And we create a piece of art which is on a person, which is affordable and stays with the customer, and it's also the only art form you're taking to the grave.
PFEIFFER: The exhibit at Rembrandt House just wrapped up, but the tattoos, as tattoos do, could last forever.
(SOUNDBITE OF AYANNA SONG, "GIRLFRIEND") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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