'Gladiatrix'. Rendering by Roboman28.

‘As flies to wonton boys,
Are we to the gods.
They kill us for their sport.’

Shakespeare – ‘King Lear’.

As in just about everything else, The Bard got it right. In this case the ‘Gods’ are the Roman Royals, who had the absolute power of life and death 2,000 years ago. How these two women were matched against each other in a Roman palace is of little consequence to us, the viewers; but to them it is everything. And by choice, or imperial dictate, they serve at the pleasure of what was once an earthly god – A Roman Emperor. For his sport.

For a time I was stumped on what to title this astonishing epic masterwork by Alan Robertson. Then I realized the artist gave visual meaning to the word: ‘Gladiatrix’. In Roman times there was the male Gladiator and the female Gladiatrix. And I believe this picture is the be all and end all in its depiction of ‘Gladiatrix Combat’.
Consequently, a one word title sums it all up.

As concerns titles, the artist, Roboman28, titled it: ‘Lethal Domination’ – And it is. In two ways.
One: Domination. When Alan and I got together to create this work, we decided at the very beginning that it would show one Gladiatrix dominating her opponent – Absolutely. And it took about a month of creation, reworks, and finally tweaks, to achieve this goal. It was a tweak that finally sealed the deal – So to speak. Initially in the first WIP, the fighters didn’t have shields. When we were ready to finalize the picture we realized that if the Negress held a shield, and with her foot pinned the shield of her downed opponent to the floor, then total domination would be achieved. Here is the link to that initial WIP: [link]
Two: Lethal. That pinning of the shield, and the arm holding it, to the floor was the tweak that gave full meaning to the look of horror by the downed Caucasian. It’s the look of utter hopelessness, knowing full well that her opponent’s sword is about to plunge into her body. Her life now measured in seconds.

The following is what the artist wrote in his DA ‘Artist’s Comments’ section:

“Scene undertaken in collaboration with Drew Hammond. His site specializes in fighting women throughout the ages.”

There is an artist of few words. But they got to, and made their point.

Anyway, as far as I’m concerned, the point of all this is to show viewers why it sometimes takes a month of collaboration between a vision in one person’s mind’s eye, and the talent of another artist to make it visual. And it was a picture done years ago that started the ball rolling, so to speak, resulting in this original creation.
One of my favorite expressions, which I believe in deeply, is: ‘Great Art Begets Greater Art’. And to that end I sent the following E-Mail to Alan;

From Drew: “Alan, I have an idea that could stand visual exploring. It’s been done before, but I think can be expanded upon in order to create an even greater ‘Epic Picture’. You already know my feeling about this: ‘Great art begets greater art’.
The E-Mail attachment I’m sending you is one of the great POV masterpieces of all time. It was done by a fellow Brit, Merlin, for me to my specifications.”
Here is the link to that attachment: [link]

Upon viewing it, Mister Robertson was agreeable, and asked for specific changes to the original render. The following was sent to him:

From Drew: “Alan, you ask how YOU can improve on such an epic? Well, simply this:
1. Reverse the body position of the Roman on the ground.
2. Mainly freeze the POV of the Nubian whereby she is still perched above the face of the Roman.
3. Then modify the Nubian where she has her sword above her head and is about to plunge it into the stomach of the Roman, or have her plunge the sword fully into the stomach. That is up to you.
4. As in the picture, they would be naked; however I'd like you to make them more of a Gladiatrix by adding metal shoulder protectors, with leather straps across their chests, and some sort of ankle protectors, as well as helmets that show the face fully. It is critical that the Negress be frozen at this angle in order to show her full bush completely.
5. The background is fully up to you. Because I don't use the word 'Please', don't consider what has just been written as any form of dictate. It's something to bounce against you, and you may have a better counter-reply. However, I would 'Please' like to be in the loop with visual updates as you are creating this stunner. Drew.”

And herein is the final result. And one of the final E-Mails concerning this picture:

From Drew: “Alan, the only concluding comment I can make is: ‘Stunned’. When I initially sent you that E-Mail with the attached POV I didn't think the POV stance could be improved upon. And then you created something else, and it is ‘In Deed’ resulting in ‘Something Else'. Drew.”

In conclusion I have to admit Alan went far beyond what I had in my mind’s eye. The power of that standing stretch of the torso is awesome. Her holding those powerful thighs over the head of the defeated Roman (and over-the-top) sword is stunning. I told him he can be very proud of this one because it is one of his very best. And in the Gladiatrix genre there is none better in all of DA than Roboman28 in its depiction thereof, and in this superb rendition he has reached its summit.

'Nuff said, Drew
Except to add, here is the link to the DA Site of Roboman28: [link]
Also, here is the DA avatar link to his DA Site: