Who’s the most famous vampire of all ? 3e LCE à la rencontre de Dracula ☠

First of all, in Euro class my classmates and I are working on Dracula and we are reading Bram Stoker’s gothic story. Let us present this engraving made by Ambrosius Huber in 1499 and of which, there is no title.

In this engraving, the dark colors definitely stand out the most such as the red representing blood which makes it terrifying. This color pattern seems fitting when talking about the most famous vampire ever.

Now, let’s move on to a thorough description of this work of art. In the top left hand corner of this engraving, we can see a huge beautiful yet quite gloomy castle. Perhaps it is the Romanian castle of Vlad Tepes III. Indeed, in the bottom left hand corner, in the foreground, there is an old noble man feasting on a fabulous table. We cannot be sure but our guess is, he is an important character in this engraving. He must be from the Aristocracy because the spotless white linen table cloth look very wealthy. On top of that, he is eating off of silver plates and cutlery.

Indeed Vlad Tepes was born in 1431 in Wallachia, Romania, during the 15th century. He was a christian and his nickname was “Dracula” which means “Son of the Dragon” given that his father, Vlad II was also a member of the Order of the Dragon. Vlad Tepes’s task was to protect christianity. By the way, the fall of Constantinople in 1453, symbolically marks the beginning of Vlad’s revenge. Indeed, when he was 11 years old, he was an hostage. As a consequence, he hated the Turks. History remembers Vlad as he was a famous tyrant taking sadistic pleasure in torturing and killing : he would feast in a forest of stakes. Doesn’t it look familiar ?

We cannot tell for sure, but we are assuming Ambrosius Huber wanted people to believe Vlad III is eating his victims because in the bottom right hand corner, a swordsman or a cook is chopping off many body parts with an axe and cooking them. We are not certain but we believe it is Vlad’s meal. In the top right hand corner, there are many people impaled which is a proof of Vlad’s infamous nickname “the impaler”. Moreover we believe they are Muslims because he was their hostage, so he wants to take his revenge by killing them. Ironically enough, Vlad III was decapitated by the Turks in 1476.

Now it seems quite clear why Bram Stoker chose Vlad III as an historial anchor to write his masterpiece Dracula.

Well, this document is an engraving by Ambrosius Huber in 1499.

First of all, in the top left hand corner, in the background, there is a huge and gloomy castle. Obviously, this castle is the private property of Vlad III. In the top right hand corner, there are a lot of corpses impaled on huge stakes, perhaps on the fence of the castle.

In the foreground, we see a noble-looking man, feasting. We are pretty sure it is Vlad III. He is wearing a light blue linen shirt, a red cloak and a red hat like a wizard. Actually, Vlad III is the Prince of Wallachia. When he was a child, he was taken as an hostage by the Turks. Indeed, his father Vlad II, was a member of the Order of the Dragon. This order was created to protect Christianity. Later in his life, he took his revenge against the Turks and impaled his ennemies, as it is pictured in the engraving.

We cannot be sure, but we assume Vlad III ate his victims to fighten them off. Maybe it was part of his legend. Indeed, in the bottom right hand corner we can see a servant, cooking a lot of corpses. He seems to be boiling off hands and arms. Vlad III is in the foreground. Is he eating his victims ? That is an open question. Perhaps human meat. The white linen table clothes draws our attention because the backdrop portrays a gloomy atmosphere. In the top right hand corner there are a lot of people impaled by Vlad III, that why it was nicknamed « the impaler ». Curiously, the corpses aren’t dressed, as to shame them even more.

To conclude, this engraving is extremly gloomy and bloody, and also embodies Vlad’s revenge towards the Turks.

Let us present this engraving by Ambrosius Huber, made in 1499.

On the top left hand corner, I can see a castle which seems quite huge and gloomy. The castle is standing high up on the valley. It seems to be gloomy because huge towers are stading tall and it seems old, from the Middle Ages to be precise. Our guess is the owner is the man who is feasting at the bottom left hand corner. We assume he is a Nobleman because he is wearing a red rich coat and a red hat. He seems like a wizard but I think it’s Vlad Tepes III.

Vlad III was nicknamed Dracula because of this father who was a member of the Order of the Dragon. Dracula means « son of the dragon » as a hommage. Besides, we reckon the main protagonist of the engraving definitely portrays Count Dracula because of his other nickname which was Vlad Tepes : the impaler. Indeed, at the top right hand corner people are impaled on huge stakes. They might be Turks because he hated them. A long time prior, as a child, he was sent as an hostage by his father to the Turks. He must have lived atrocious things in Turkish cells. So we reckon this engraving shows his vengance. He is looking at them while feaasting outdoors, which is quite unusual.

Moving on, at the bottom right hand corner, I can see someone random. Ou guess is he is a servant, because I suppose he is chopping heads and deadbodies off with an axe and throwing them into the fire. It seems he is cooking them for Dracula. We do believe the corpses are Muslims soldiers : in order to satisfy his revenge over the Turks and protect Christianity. We cannot be sure but we suppose the servant is serving cooked body remains to Vlad.

In the contrast of these bloody colors, a white table linen cloth stands out and draws our attention directly towards Vlad who is feasting, off of silver ware, unbothered. Ironically enough, the white alludes to the purity and kindness of Christianity.

Vlad Tepes III was so cruel he inspired Bram Stocker for his gothic book .

First of all, when we started working of the Gothis as a literary genre, we imagined Dracula was the best example.

Let us present this engraving by Ambrasius Huber, made in the Middle Ages, around 1499. What first surprised us, was that we could see this engraving was from 1499, though Vlad Tepes III aka Count Dracula, died on 1476. So it is safe to say the author wanted to prove a point and convey the aura of Vlad III as a heroic figure. Indeed, for the Christians, he was a real hero because he had to protect christianity in Eastern Europe – his father was the leader of the order of the Dragon, so he is his worthy succesor.

Now, it is time to out a thorough analysis of this piece of propaganda.
In the top right hand corner we can see people impaled – we believe they must be Muslims as, when he was kid, the Turks took him as an hostage, so he want to take his revenge. Indeed, surprisingly, his father, who wanted to have peace with the Turks, sent Vlad as a hostage when he was only 11 years old. Five years later, Vlad was freed but he had suffered a lot in the Turkish prisons. No wonder Vlad hated the Turks. Vlad was a tyrant because he took sadistic pleasure in torturing and killing. His practice of impaling his enemies is central to his historical legend.

Next, in the bottom right hand corner I can see a servant chopping off body parts like an arm for example. Maybe he is cooking Vlad’s meal so we can assume Vlad is eating human remains. This would be quite ghastly and yet, it is the Middle Ages, and Romania, and… Dracula.

In the bottom left hand corner the author wanted to draw the attention on the main protagonist of his engraving. Indeed we  can see a table with white linen table cloth with a silver cutlery and plates. Thus, we can assume Vlad Tepes was an aristocrat. This part of this engraving draws our attention because it’s the only white part in this engraving, in the a middle of orange or red.

Finally in the top left hand corner I can see a big and gloomy castle. This castle is obviously in Transylvania as it is Dracula’s mansion. No wonder why Bram Stoker’s Dracula was inspired by Vlad Tepes III.


Let us present this document, which is an engraving by Ambrosius Huber, made in 1499. The document represents probably Vlad Tepes The impaler, born in 1431 in Wallachia (Romania). His father was Vlad II : Dracul.

In the top left hand corner in the background I can see a gloomy castle which I imagine is the catle of Vlad Tepes The impaler. On the right there are victims who are impaled on huge stakes. It looks like a scary forrest. We cannot be sure but we think they are Turks because, when he was 11 years old, he was held as an hostage by the Turks and as a consequence, hated the turks.

In the bottom left hand corner in the foreground, we know for a fact it is Vlad Tepes. He is eating on a white tablecloth whith a silver place. We assume he is a noble man as these are quite wealthy. We may be wrong, but we guess, The Muslims are his victims because in the bottom right hand corner in the foreground there is a man who is cooking human remains.

Now, we understand where Bram Stoker found his inspiration.

Let us present this engraving made by Ambrosius during the 15th century more exactly in 1499.

First of all, in the top left hand corner stands a gloomy castle. We do believe the owner of this castle is Vlad III because, aged 25, he become the prince of Wallachia, in Romania. Just by the castle, we can see a lot of dead bodies impaled on huge stakes. We can assume these are Muslims as I know for a fact he hated the Turks. When he was 11 years old, his dad wanted to have peace with the Turks so he sent Vlad as an hostage. Vlad was freed but he had suffered a lot in Turkish prisons. We can’t know for sure but we imagine he must have used all this time to think of his revenge on the Turks. He must have come with this imaling technic during his imprisonnement.

In the right hand corner, in the foreground, a man servant is throwing body parts in a raging fire. In his left hand we can see an axe : he is chopping corpses off. Behind the man stands a long and rich-looking table covered with a white linen tablecloth. It definitely catches the eye with this bright color. On the table there are two pieces of bread… unless those are human remains ? One cannont know for sure, and maybe that is the whole point of this propaganda. We could even go as far as suggesting the silver jug is full of fresh blood ? That would not be such a strech. Indeed, the main protagonist is feasting in a forrest of imapled Turks !

Speaking of whom, we are going to talk about the man – who looks like a famous wizard we all know. He is wrinkled and he has a lot of grey hair and a grey beard. Next he wears an orange cloak and a light blue shirt… We can assume this man is Vlad III because the nickname of Vlad III is «the Impaler.»

We are going to talk about this engraving by Ambrosius Huber in 1499.

To begin with, Vlad Tepes, or, by his nickname Dracula, is known as the bloodiest Vampire ever. Was he really ? We can assume the main protagonist of this work of art is Count Dracula because in the background of the engraving, stands a huge castle at the back of which is an gloomy forest. These two elements are symptomatic of the Gothic genre and are the signature of Dracula.

Well, let us introduce Vlad Tepes. The Impaler. First of all the man on the the left is obviously Vlad so we will focus on his life story, which later made History. Indeed, Vlad inspired Bram Stoker for the main protagonist of his Victorian Gothic tale Dracula. The real war hero was born in 1431 in Wallachia (Romania) more precisely in Transilvania. His father was Vlad II and was a menber of the order of the Dragon. He was nicknamed DRACUL… hence DRACULA – which meant « son of the Dragon. » As head of the « Order of the Dragon » the quest of Vald’s father was to protect Christianity. As such Vlad III hated the Turks because when he was 11 he has been hostage by the Turks as his dad offered him to the Turks to have peace.

This being said, let us move on to the foreground of this engraving. We can see many people – I guess they are the Turks – impaled on stakes, so they are evidently dead. We cannot be sure but we can guess they are impaled because of the fall of Constantinople, in 1453 marks the beginning of Vlad’s revenge against the Turks. We also think of course he is Dracula because on the right at the below there are a lot of human remains who are chopped off in different parts and cooked and boiled.

So on the left, there stands Dracula aka Vlad Tepes feasting outdoors in a forest of dead bodies imapled on stakes. Quite odd. We assume Vlad was a noble man or an Aristocrats he is eating off silver cutlery and a white linnen table cloth. Besides, this bright color draws our attention against the dark colors used in the engraving, like red for example that reminds people of the colors of blood and evokes Dracula.