Jan 16
Snake eater
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Snake eater
I am sad that there's no good contemporary depiction of Vlad III. Draculea with a beard, since he wore one, at least according to his own personal seal (surprising, right?!). But we only have images of him with the iconic moustache.
So I decided to make one myself :D
I used the style of mediaeval icons, inspired by the ones painted in Snagov Monastery, which is connected to Vlad III. As I am no master of this type of art, I used as a base the icon of st. Alexander Nevskij, since he's holding a sword. I also wanted to draw him with a crown, sice that is also on Vlad's seal.
For his face, I used the contemporary description of Vlad from an eye-witness, Niccolò Modrussa, who describes him with aquiline nose, green eyes, long, black curly hair and intimidating, bushy eyebrows. I also tried to imitate the shape of his face from the traditional depictions of Vlad, although these were probably made by people who might've never seen him (and they also depicted him as ugly as part of propaganda against him. It's funny how in the chronicles his enemies always describe him as ugly while his allies described him as beautiful :D).
I was surprised that none of these depictions paint the mentioned strong eyebrows, but then I found out that medieval paintings in general don't really focus on various shapes of eyebrows, they're always more or less the same, so my decision to paint them might be a little bit anachronistic :D
I hope no-one will be offended that I kept the hallo. It looks good aesthetically, and, to be honest, Vlad's cousin Stephen the Great was hallowed, and I feel that if Vlad's name hasn't been dragged through the mud by the horrible propaganda, he might've ended like that as well, as it seems he was quite loved by his people.
Enjoy!
And if you want to know more about the real Vlad III. Dracula, without the distortion of the sensational propaganda against him, I highly recommend the professional team Corpus Draculianum and their illustrious YouTube channel, where they talk about Vlad's fascinating life in engaging and enjoyable form:
The first complete collection of all documents from and about the historical Dracula. Educational videos about Dracula's times, Wallachia, a
The personal seal of Vlad III. Draculea depicting him with a beard and a crown, which I found thanks to Corpus Draculianum and which I used as a main inspiration:
I admit I changed the beard a bit to look more like the royal fashion, and, well, in a hardly preserved 500 year old wax seal there wasn't much room for details, so I took it with a grain of salt.
Italian made horse armor, 1560s
#73 AI is Killing the Heraldry Industry or Achievement Unlocked: A Proposal for the Autistic Community concerning Coats of Arms
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1100x590 Iglesia de San Pedro de Cervatos, Aragón, España (románica)
St Peter's church in Cervatos, Aragon, Spain (romanesque)
The world is your oyster…
unfortunately it’s specifically this oyster from “Der naturen bloeme” by Jacob van Maerlant circa 1350
Early Dutch illuminated manuscript containing imaginative images of both real and fantastic creatures.
Radha and Her Confidant Sit in an Open Room: Page from a Dispersed Rasikapriya. Malwa, ca. 1680–90. Illustration by Nurddin. Housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Via Jordan Quill
(1280 x 856) Iglesia de Santa María de Lara, en Quintanilla de las Viñas, Burgos, vía @esmitierra