In Thomas Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon, he first introduces the characters of Special Agent Will Graham and serial killer Hannibal Lecter. Prior to this story, Graham had caught Lecter, now incarcerated, and then retired due to the stress of the case. When a new serial killer emerges who baffles the FBI, Graham is lured back to his job and even visits Lecter to get help and insight into the case. The villain of Red Dragon is Francis Dolarhyde, who has an extreme fascination with "The Great Red Dragon" painting by William Blake. Dolarhyde is described as being tattooed on his back with a red dragon design based on these images.
The novel was first adapted into a movie in 1986, with FBI Agent Graham being played by William Petersen (of CSI fame) and Dolarhyde portrayed by Tom Noonan. The title of the movie was changed to "Manhunter" as at the time there was concern it might be mistaken for being a kung fu movie. The tattoo designed for Dolarhyde isn't as extensive as what was described in the book and is primarily on his chest, not on his back. The design has a very 1970s style to it, with a lot of bold outlining and flat coloring, and doesn't look much like anything painted by William Blake.
In 2002, after the success of the movie "The Silence of the Lambs" a second movie adaptation was produced. This starred Ed Norton (Fight Club) as Special Agent Will Graham and featured Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort in the Harry Potter films) as killer Francis Dolarhyde. In the sixteen years that separated the films, movie makeup advanced a lot and tattooing had shifted from being a fringe practice to being present in much of mainstream American society. The tattoo designed and worn by Fiennes was much more extensive and advanced. It very much appears as a stylization of Blake's painted images, rendered in a monochrome style with lots of shading and detailing. It covered not only all of Fiennes' back, but extended onto his upper arms and down onto his buttocks and legs.
You can explore both interpretations of the Red Dragon tattoo with the Red Dragon (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
or Manhunter (Full Screen Edition)
on DVD.
