Circle of HENRI DE FAVANNE (1668-1752)

Details
Circle of HENRI DE FAVANNE (1668-1752)

Timoclea

oil on canvas
28½ x 38½in. (72.4 x 97.2cm.)
Provenance
Anon. sale, Christie's, London, July 14, 1961, lot 102, as School of Poussin (120 gns. to Wengraf)

Lot Essay

The subject of the present lot, from Plutarch 33:18, is Timoclea, a Theban prisoner of one of Alexander the Great's campaigns who was raped by one of Alexander's generals. She avenged herself by telling the officer that her family's wealth was hidden at the bottom of a well. As the soldier started to descend into the well, she and her family threw rocks on him. Upon hearing the story of her cunning, Alexander pardoned her and gave her and her family their freedom