Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst is was born in 1965 and is a British contemporary artist. His works are renowned internationally as confrontational and ground breaking. He has become one of the most influential artists of his generation and his name has become synonymous with contemporary art.

This work is from a series “The Virtues” where each work is named after one of the eight virtues of Bushido according to Nitobe Inazo. He wrote a book called “Bushido: The Soul of Japan” that narrates the samurai code of ethics and lists the ways in which fighting Japanese nobles were expected to maintain themselves in their daily and vocational lives. These eight virtues are titled Justice, Courage, Mercy, Politeness, Honesty, Honour, Loyalty and Control.