I ran into Tom coming off of the subway at 86th Street in Brooklyn. He had several tattoos (four, to be exact), and he offered up the above one as a special piece. Do note that he said, as many people do, that all of his tattoos are special.
Tom told me this piece, on his right bicep, is a representation of one of the more famous aspects of the King Arthur legend - the sword in the stone. The sword of course, is Excalibur. Tom's parents, when raising him, gave him a thorough teaching of the Arthurian stories and the lessons from these tales carried with him through to his adult life.
He indicated that the colors of the stained glass behind Excalibur are significant in that the blue represents courage, the red represents honor, and the purple represents valor. He had this inked the year that his father passed away from cancer, in part, as a tribute to the morality with which he was raised by his parents.
The tattoo artist was Mike at a shop that closed its doors many years ago (somewhere in the vicinity of 18th Avenue and 77th Street in Brooklyn).
Thanks to Tom for sharing this tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!