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The Vampire Armand
''The Vampire Armand'' (1998) is a horror novel by American writer Anne Rice, the sixth in her '' The Vampire Chronicles'' series. Plot summary With Lestat de Lioncourt still in slumber since '' Memnoch the Devil'', the vampire coven is reunited around the "brat prince" and the vampire David Talbot asks Armand tell his life story. Born somewhere in the Kievan Rus in the late 15th century, Armand (at this time called Andrei) becomes an icon painter in a monastery. He is forcefully taken out of this life of prayer and devotion by slave traders, who transport him to Constantinople and then to a brothel in Venice. Soon after his arrival, he is purchased by the vampire Marius de Romanus, who names him Amadeo. Marius lives the extravagant life of a respected Renaissance painter, and mentors many boys who serve as his apprentices. Marius provides them with education, shelter, and food, and he assists them in finding respectable positions once they are grown. Over time, Amadeo's relat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Rice
Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Christian literature. She was best known for her series of novels '' The Vampire Chronicles''. Books from ''The Vampire Chronicles'' were the subject of two film adaptations—''Interview with the Vampire'' (1994) and ''Queen of the Damned'' (2002). Born in New Orleans, Rice spent much of her early life in the city before moving to Texas, and later to San Francisco. She was raised in an observant Catholic family but became an agnostic as a young adult. She began her professional writing career with the publication of ''Interview with the Vampire'' (1976), while living in California, and began writing sequels to the novel in the 1980s. In the mid-2000s, following a publicized return to Catholicism, Rice published the novels '' Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt'' and '' Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana'', fictionalized accounts of certai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most common subjects include Christ, Mary, saints and angels. Although especially associated with portrait-style images concentrating on one or two main figures, the term also covers most religious images in a variety of artistic media produced by Eastern Christianity, including narrative scenes, usually from the Bible or the lives of saints. Icons are most commonly painted on wood panels with egg tempera, but they may also be cast in metal, carved in stone, embroidered on cloth, done in mosaic or fresco work, printed on paper or metal, etc. Comparable images from Western Christianity can be classified as "icons", although "iconic" may also be used to describe a static style of devotional image. In the Greek language, the term for icon pain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the List of cities proper by population density, 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of the world's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, Fashion capital, fashion, gastronomy, and science. For its leading role in the arts and sciences, as well as its very early system of street lighting, in the 19th century it became known as "the City of Light". Like London, prior to the Second World War, it was also sometimes called Caput Mundi#Paris, the capital of the world. The City of Paris is the centre of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, or Paris Region, with an estimated population of 12,262,544 in 2019, or about 19% of the population of France, making the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kidnap
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the perpetrator may use a weapon to force the victim into a vehicle, but it is still kidnapping if the victim is enticed to enter the vehicle willingly (e.g. in the belief that it is a taxicab). Kidnapping may be done to demand for ransom in exchange for releasing the victim, or for other illegal purposes. Kidnapping can be accompanied by bodily injury which elevates the crime to aggravated kidnapping. Kidnapping of a child is known as child abduction, which is a separate legal category. Motivations Kidnapping of children is usually done by one parent or others. The kidnapping of adults is often for ransom or to force someone to withdraw money from an ATM, but may also be for sexual assault. Children have also been kidnapped for the commis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coven
A coven () is a group or gathering of witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English until 1921 when Margaret Murray promoted the idea that all witches across Europe met in groups of thirteen which they called "covens".Murray, Margaret (1921). ''The Witch Cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology''. Modern paganism In Wicca and other similar forms of modern pagan witchcraft, such as Stregheria and Feri, a coven is a gathering or community of witches, like an affinity group, engagement group, or small covenant group. It is composed of a group of practitioners who gather together for rituals such as Drawing Down the Moon, or celebrating the Sabbats.. The place at which they generally meet is called a covenstead. The number of people involved may vary. Although some consider thirteen to be ideal (probably in deference to Murray's theories), any gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santino (The Vampire Chronicles)
The following is a list of characters from Anne Rice's '' The Vampire Chronicles'', which began with the 1976 novel ''Interview with the Vampire''. The series primarily follows the antihero Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a vampire in the 18th century, and by extension the many humans and vampires whose lives he has touched in his own long existence. Some characters from Rice's '' Lives of the Mayfair Witches'' trilogy cross over to ''The Vampire Chronicles'', specifically in '' Merrick'' (2000), ''Blackwood Farm'' (2002), and ''Blood Canticle'' (2003). Rice said in a 2008 interview that her vampires were a "metaphor for lost souls". The homoerotic overtones of ''The Vampire Chronicles'' are also well documented. As of November 2008, ''The Vampire Chronicles'' had sold 80 million copies worldwide. The first novel in the series, ''Interview with the Vampire'' (1976), was made into a 1994 film starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invasion, it was the eighth-most populous country in Europe, with a population of around 41 million people. It is also bordered by Belarus to the north; by Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; and by Romania and Moldova to the southwest; with a coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to the south and southeast. Kyiv is the nation's capital and largest city. Ukraine's state language is Ukrainian; Russian is also widely spoken, especially in the east and south. During the Middle Ages, Ukraine was the site of early Slavic expansion and the area later became a key centre of East Slavic culture under the state of Kievan Rus', which emerged in the 9th century. The state eventually disintegrated into rival regional po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delusion
A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some other misleading effects of perception, as individuals with those beliefs ''are'' able to change or readjust their beliefs upon reviewing the evidence. However: "The distinction between a delusion and a strongly held idea is sometimes difficult to make and depends in part on the degree of conviction with which the belief is held despite clear or reasonable contradictory evidence regarding its veracity." Delusions have been found to occur in the context of many pathological states (both general physical and mental) and are of particular diagnostic importance in psychotic disorders including schizophrenia, paraphrenia, manic episodes of bipolar disorder, and psychotic depression. Types Delusions are categorized into four different gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palazzo
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which housed the Imperial residences. Most European languages have a version of the term (''palais'', ''palazzo'', ''palacio'', etc.), and many use it for a wider range of buildings than English. In many parts of Europe, the equivalent term is also applied to large private houses in cities, especially of the aristocracy; often the term for a large country house is different. Many historic palaces are now put to other uses such as parliaments, museums, hotels, or office buildings. The word is also sometimes used to describe a lavishly ornate building used for public entertainment or exhibitions such as a movie palace. A palace is distinguished from a castle while the latter clearly is fortified or has the style of a fortification, whereas a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bianca Solderini
The following is a list of characters from Anne Rice's ''The Vampire Chronicles'', which began with the 1976 novel ''Interview with the Vampire''. The series primarily follows the antihero Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a vampire in the 18th century, and by extension the many humans and vampires whose lives he has touched in his own long existence. Some characters from Rice's ''Lives of the Mayfair Witches'' trilogy cross over to ''The Vampire Chronicles'', specifically in '' Merrick'' (2000), ''Blackwood Farm'' (2002), and '' Blood Canticle'' (2003). Rice said in a 2008 interview that her vampires were a "metaphor for lost souls". The homoerotic overtones of ''The Vampire Chronicles'' are also well documented. As of November 2008, ''The Vampire Chronicles'' had sold 80 million copies worldwide. The first novel in the series, ''Interview with the Vampire'' (1976), was made into a 1994 film starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, which is also known as '' pansexuality.'' The term ''bisexuality'' is mainly used in the context of human attraction to denote romantic or sexual feelings toward both men and women, and the concept is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation along with heterosexuality and homosexuality, all of which exist on the heterosexual–homosexual continuum. A bisexual identity does not necessarily equate to equal sexual attraction to both sexes; commonly, people who have a distinct but not exclusive sexual preference for one sex over the other also identify themselves as bisexual. Scientists do not know the exact cause of sexual orientation, but they theorize that it is caused by a complex interplay of genetic, hormonal, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity. Proponents of a "long Renaissance" argue that it started around the year 1300 and lasted until about 1600. In some fields, a Proto-Renaissance, beginning around 1250, is typically accepted. The French word ''renaissance'' (corresponding to ''rinascimento'' in Italian) means 'rebirth', and defines the period as one of cultural revival and renewed interest in classical antiquity after the centuries during what Renaissance humanists labelled as the "Dark Ages". The Renaissance author Giorgio Vasari used the term ''rinascita'' 'rebirth' in his '' Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' in 1550, but the concept became widespread only in the 19th century, after the work of sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
