Vlad "Țepeș" Dracula

“From the native Romanian Dracula tales, it would appear that their marriage was not a happy one for the prince was often seen wandering alone at night on the outskirts of the city, usually in disguise, seeking the company of the beautiful but humble women who in time became his mistresses.” (from the book In Search of Dracula, page 40).

This passage is my inspiration for this illustration of Vlad Dracula, the notorious cruel impaler who is also an enigma for many people. Instead of the usual nobility boyar clothing that Vlad Dracula often wears, I tried to depict him wearing traditional Romanian clothing which was used by the free peasants (mosneni) in Wallachia. Dacian hat, embroidered shirt (cămaşa), embroidered sheepskin vest (pieptar), and thick leather belt (chimir) were part of Dracula's disguise to sojourn among the villages. Sometimes Dracula would mingle among them or catching his own people off-guard and punishing them if they were seen breaking the law. One of Romanian folktales tells a story that he caught a peasant who was wearing too short a shirt and immediately impaled the peasant's wife because she was too lazy to sew.