It's a buyer's market

Well, now, this may just be the creepiest transaction of the decade:

A Swiss man has sold an elaborate Virgin Mary tattoo on his back to a German collector, with the understanding it can be exhibited three times yearly, a Zurich gallery said Monday.

The extraordinary transaction -- which gallery owner Jutta Nexdorf claims is the first of its kind -- fetched 150,000 euros (219,000 dollars), with the other main stipulation being that the 35-hour work can be removed from the bearer's skin upon death and handed to its owner.

Well, I guess it would certainly be a conversation piece. "Oh, that? Lovely piece of artwork, no? I find ink on human skin to be a very compelling medium."

Yeesh.