Pollice Verso by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1872 Fun fact: producers for the film Gladiator were armed with a reproduction of this painting when they pitched the script to Ridley Scott. He said, “That image spoke to me of the Roman Empire in all its glory and wickedness.”

Pollice Verso by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1872

Fun fact: producers for the film Gladiator were armed with a reproduction of this painting when they pitched the script to Ridley Scott. He said, “That image spoke to me of the Roman Empire in all its glory and wickedness.”