Neoclassical in style, it depicts a scene from
William Shakespeare's play
Timon of Athens which was inspired by the historical figure
Timon of Athens. It portrays a scene later in the play where Timon, having squandered his wealth on the unworthy
Athenian people, is living in a self-imposed exile in a
cave. He encounters the
general Alcibiades in the company of two
prostitutes, and tosses the
gold he has recently dug up to them. Dance-Holland spent the years from 1754 in
Italy, before returning to Britain in the mid-1760s. The exact dating of the painting is uncertain. It was commissioned by
George III (the commission was conveyed to Dance-Holland by
Richard Dalton) and likely begun while the artist was still in Italy. In 1767 it was displayed at the annual exhibition of the
Society of Artists of Great Britain, at
Spring Gardens, in
London, where the previous year he had exhibited another neoclassical painting,
The Meeting of Dido and Aeneas. It was hung at
Buckingham Palace in 1790, later being moved to
Windsor Castle, and remains in the
Royal Collection. ==References==