From today's featured articleVision in White is the first book of the Bride Quartet series of romance novels, written by Nora Roberts (pictured). After its April 2009 release, it spent two weeks atop one of the New York Times bestseller lists and reached number three on the USA Today bestseller list. In her career, Roberts has published more than 225 novels. Vision in White was one of ten Roberts novels published in 2009, including five new releases and five reprints. It marked her return to contemporary romance. Like several other Roberts novels, Vision in White explores how a protagonist balances a successful career with a dysfunctional family environment. The hero is a typical representation of the romance novel archetype of the professor, but in an unusual twist for a romance novel, he is the character who is ready for a commitment but must help the heroine overcome her fears. A downloadable casual-play computer game based on the book was introduced by I-Play in 2010. (Full article...)
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On this dayApril 16: Feast day of Saint Bernadette Soubirous (Catholicism)
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Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (16 April 1755 – 30 March 1842) was a prominent French portrait painter. Her artistic style is generally considered part of the aftermath of Rococo, with elements of an adopted Neoclassical style. She enjoyed the patronage of European aristocrats, actors, and writers, most notably serving as Marie Antoinette's portrait painter, and created some 660 portraits and 200 landscapes, which are now owned by major museums and collections in Europe and the United States. This oil-on-canvas painting, entitled Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat, was painted by Vigée Le Brun sometime after 1782. She is depicted in the open air against a cloud-dotted sky, wearing a straw hat decorated with an ostrich feather and a posy of rustic flowers. The artwork was a "free imitation" of Portrait of Susanna Lunden by Rubens, in particular the blend of two forms of illumination: natural daylight and the radiance of the sun. Unlike the sitter of Rubens's portrait, who crosses her arms and peers out from below her hat, Vigée Le Brun portrays herself as being friendly and welcoming to the viewer. Painting credit: Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
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