This is a painting of one of the many marble replicas of a lost Greek bronze, the most famous of which is the Aphrodite of Fréjus in The Louvre.

The goddess is shown holding the apple presented to her by Paris though, from Roman times, it came to be associated with Venus as the founder of families, in particular that of Julius Caesar.

The contents of the artist’s studio were bequeathed to the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in the 1970s. The material includes work Cartlidge produced as a student at the Hanley School of Art and also work he submitted for his Art Masters Certificate from the National Art School, South Kensington (later the Royal College of Art). A portfolio of Cartlidge’s early art work includes a number of studies of classical figures and statuary; 'Venus Genetrix' may have amongst those submitted by Cartlidge as student for his end of year assessment or competition, which would also explain why the canvas has the 'third prize' label fixed to the lower bottom edge of the canvas.