There is a comparison that can be drawn between the 'archaeological realism' of artists like Gerome, Poynter and Alma-Tadema, and the similar efforts of films in this century. Ridley Scott, the director of the blockbuster 'Gladiators', admitted to having been inspired by Gerome's 'Police Verso', which he considered had caught the flavour of the Roman Decadence. It is obvious the debt owed to Alma-Tadema in the costume designs for the film, as well. What is interesting is that Gerome and Alma-Tadema were engaged on a very similar enterprise, in the context of their time. Both ransacked historical documents and sometimes went to the locations themselves in an effort to produce authentic material. This obviously isn't the same kind of realism as Courbet or Millet, but it is a fascinating branch nonetheless. It shows that even the Academics - who have been painted as hackneyed purveyors of worn out stereotypes and threadbare cliches - were just as interested as their realist and naturalist contemporaries in creating 'authentic' paintings. In their case they chose not to take contemporary life as their theme, but rather antique subjects. They resembled the naturalists of their time in that they attempted to inject their antique subjects with authentic detail and local colour. The Northern Renaissance approach of painting a religious scene in contemporary surroundings would have been alien to a man of Gerome's temperament.
In their desire to create a more authentic experience, Gerome, Poynter and Alma-Tadema, can be compared to the special effects departments of contemporary cinema, which expend an enormous amount of effort in creating an utterly convincing visual experience; particularly with subjects that are either fantastic (science fiction) or historical ('Gladiator', 'Cleopatra'
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