AP PHOTOS: Cream of tattoos on show at Romanian palace

In slightly incongruous settings of an ornate late 19th century palace, a man with hundreds of metal piercings hangs in air by hooks dug into his skin, next to a bearded giant tattooed from tip to toe.

display was part of 10th International Tattoo Convention, which gared more than 100 tattoo artists from around world in Romanian capital, Bucharest.

three-day event was held at end of last week in Bragiru Palace, a boisterous specimen of ornate monumental architecture from turn of 20th century that got Bucharest kwn as “Paris of East.” It was designed by Austrian architect Anton Shuckerl for a Romanian beer tycoon.

Visitors h opportunity to get inked by artists such as Bob Tyrrell and Gabriel Ripley from U.S. and China’s Zhu Shi, or to see at close quarters people famous for covering ir bodies in tattoos — Venezuela’s Emilio Gonzales, Cana’s Doug Smode and Germany’s Guinness World Record holder Rolf Buchholz, kwn for his 453 metal piercings.

Artists from 26 countries competed in creating best tattoo in several categories such as Best Black and Grey and Best Color.

Tattoos were virtually unkwn until fairly recently in Romania, which was ruled by a repressive communist regime from 1947-1989.

A typical Romanian tattoo artist charges from 250 lei ($58) per hour, while elaborate projects can cost more than 5,000 lei ($1,158).