A preparatory study for the picture dated 1748 in the Arts Museum, Princeton, one of two overdoors representing the Elements commissioned in 1748 by King Louis XV for the Château de la Muette, outside the Bois de Boulogne. Only two of the pictures seem to have been painted, and due to the enlargments of the house from 1753 until it was destroyed during the Revolution, it is impossible to trace the original location of the pictures in the house

The drawing differs from the drawing most notably in the omission of the nymph, seen from behind, swimming in the foreground.

The story of Arion is taken from Herodotus (1.24). His association with the theme of the Element is iconographically unusual: it refers to a Ballet Les Eléments written in 1721 by Roy with music by Lalande and Destouches, in which the young King Louis XV performed the rôle of Arion. Arion was a Greek singer who, on his return from a lucrative tour in Italy, was thrown overboard by the crew of his ship. He was rescued by Nymphs and took his revenge on his aggressors by sinking their boat