Concerning his picture of Theodore and Honorio, Fuseli used to say,
"Look at it--it is connected with the first patron I ever had." He then
proceeded to relate how Cipriani had undertaken to paint for Horace
Walpole a scene from Boccaccio's Theodore and Honorio, familiar to all
in the splendid translation of Dryden, and, after several attempts,
finding the subject too heavy for his handling, he said to Walpole, "I
cannot please myself with a sketch from this most imaginative of Gothic
fictions; but I know one who can do the story justice--a man of great
powers, of the name of Fuseli." "Let me see this painter of yours," said
the other. Fuseli was sent for, and soon satisfied Walpole that his
imagination was equal to the task, by painting a splendid picture.