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- Thomas Couture (1815 - 1879)
- Timon of Athens
- France
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- Date: 1857
- Object Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Image size: 19 x 24 cm
- Object size: 45.5 x 50 x 9.5 cm
- Inv: P265
- Location: West Gallery III Staircase
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- Description
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- The most finished version of a subject, an allegory of greed, which occupied Couture for several years. The source was Shakespeare’s 'Timon of Athens', particularly III, vi and IV, iii. Timon, a rich Athenian who ruins himself by his generosity to friends and flatterers, is deserted by them until in exile he discovers a hoard of gold, whereupon they return seeking favours. The unbridled greed associated with the regime of Napoleon III (1852-70) was bitterly opposed by Couture. The Wallace Collection's painting is the most finished surviving version of a subject which preoccupied him for several years.