Miley Cyrus’s new tattoo is a work of art—literally

Miley Cyrus is just being Miley and adding to her already extensive tattoo collection. Cyrus visited tattoo artist Nico Bassill at his private studio in Los Angeles yesterday, March 2nd, and added a gorgeous piece of art to her right arm. And by “piece of art” we mean a literal work of art, originally done by Henri Matisse.

The piece Cyrus replicated on her arm is an outline of a woman’s nude body. It seems the singer was inspired by the art and poetry book Dance Me to the End of Love, which pairs artwork by Matisse with Leonard Cohen’s lyrics to the song by the same name.

Cyrus showed off her new tattoo on Instagram with a caption that includes a portion of Cohen’s lyrics.

“Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin. Dance me through the panic till I’m gathered safely in. Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove. Dance me to the end of love,” she wrote, adding, “Matisse X Cohen.”

Bassill also posted Cyrus’s tat to Instagram. He captioned his post with an inspiring quote from the original artist.

“‘An artist must never be a prisoner. Prisoner? An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc.’ – Henri Matisse,” Bassill wrote.

All this lovey-dovey stuff has us thinking that Cyrus may have gotten this tattoo to show her adoration for boyfriend Cody Simpson, who also got a new tattoo yesterday. His is of a trident, on his left arm.

Then again, Cyrus could have just wanted a bit of ink to pay homage to a favorite song or favorite artist. Chances are, we’ll never know for sure. So, pick your favorite tattoo theory and go with it. No matter what, the ink is stunning.