Poppaea Sabina that it is not a drama that promotes the triumph of virtue. Poppaea is portrayed as cynically plotting to become empress of Rome by manipulating the emperor Nero into marrying her, and her machinations include the execution of Seneca the Younger, who opposes her plans, which are successful at the end of the drama. Poppaea is a principal character also in Handel's opera "Agrippina" of 1709, but as a victim, not a perpetrator, of deceit and manipulation. Here the schemer is Agrippina, Nero's mother, intent on promoting her son's claim to the throne. Poppaea, the ingenue, is portrayed as the
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