Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French artist known for his highly finished paintings and sculptures of mythological, Orientalist, and historical scenes. With technical virtuosity, Gérôme created paintings such as Pollice Verso (1872), an elaborate depiction of an ancient Roman gladiator poised to slay his enemy. Born on May 11, 1824 in Vesoul, France, he studied under the artist Paul Delaroche in Paris as a youth. In 1843, when Delaroche shuttered his studio to move to Italy, the young Gérôme went along to study the sites of ancient Rome. Returning to Paris a year later, he entered the studio of Charles Gleyre so he could be eligible for the prestigious Prix de Rome competition. Despite failing to win the...