Like Stubbs and Gilpin before him, Herring occasionally attempted to add depth to his genre with literary or historical subjects; examples can be seen in his various depictions of Mazeppa (an illustration to Byron's poem) and Duncan's Horses (an illustration from Shakespeare's Macbeth). While the source for the present picture is unknown, the 'heroic' imagery is clear. There are also interesting comparisons between the present picture and works by James Ward and it could have been inspired by the latter's engraved series of celebrated horses.