Dutch artist Arent van Bolten drew these gorgeous, surreal grotesques and monsters in the 16th century. Many of them feature fascinating scenes that incorporate both real animals like cats, monkeys, and birds, with mythological creatures. Some of the creatures look silly and playful while others are menacing.
These drawings are quite trippy, and way cooler than anything I've seen in a contemporary art museum lately. These creatures would make for some incredible tattoos, if done by an artist who's good with intricate detail. My favorite one is the one where a cat calmly sits atop the head of a horned beast who seems to be in conversation with a giant duck-monster.
From The Public Domain Review:
"Very little is known about the Dutch artist Arent van Bolten. We do know he was born at Zwolle ca. 1573 and was actually a silversmith by profession. His artistic output ranged from grotesque figures and monsters, to figural scenes from the Bible and mythology. Here is a selection of the former, held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and produced sometime in the early 17th century."