Poppaea Sabina turning his 'loyal subjects' the Roman populace against him. (This form of murder may have been suggested to the screenwriters by Tacitus' claim that Nero had made several unsuccessful attempts at strangling his first wife, Octavia, when drunk.) Another portrayal of Poppaea is featured in the 1932 film "The Sign of the Cross". She is seen bathing in asses' milk. Daringly for the time, she is portrayed (by Claudette Colbert) as being openly bisexual, suggestively inviting a female slave to bathe with her in the asses' milk, but lusting after Roman soldier Marcus Superbus (Fredric March). In the 1976 BBC
Brigand and His Wife in Prayer criminal activities and for the health of the heavily-pregnant wife. The sympathy-inspiring depictions of the frugality and piety of the couple reflect Robert's fascination with the culture of the Italian brigands, who the painter found to be a faithful people despite their criminality. Brigand and His Wife in Prayer Brigand and His Wife in Prayer is an early 19th century painting by Léopold Robert. Done in oil paint on canvas, the work depicts a brigand and his wife in prayer before a cross in the mountains of central Italy. The painting is part of The Whitney Collection, and is currently