In Ovid’s 'Metamorphoses' (X, 524–559, 708–739) Venus, as a result of a chance graze from Cupid’s arrow, conceived a burning passion for Adonis. One day, while out hunting, Adonis was slain by a wild boar. The frantic goddess arrived too late to help him, but created anemones in his memory from the blood-stained earth. Prud’hon’s picture depicts the idyll before the tragedy. Although a major commission, for which numerous preparatory drawings and oil sketches exist, the composition was criticised from the outset. Today Prud’hon’s use of a mixture of beeswax, resins, oil and lead oxide, intended to speed up the drying process, has caused unsightly craquelure and the picture’s surface is further marred by discoloured retouchings.