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Quo Vadis is a 1913 Italian silent film directed by Enrico Guazzoni for Cines, based on a novel of the same name by Henryk Sienkiewicz. It was one of the first blockbusters in the history of cinema, with five thousand extras, lavish sets, and a lengthy running time of two hours. Set during the latter years of the reign of the Roman emperor Nero, the film depicts his persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire in the mid–1st century. This poster, produced for the American film producer George Kleine to advertise Quo Vadis, depicts the execution of Lygia, a young Christian woman, in the Circus of Nero in Rome: she is tied to the back of a bull, in imitation of the mythological princess Europa.Poster credit: The National Printing and Engraving Company; restored by Adam Cuerden