The present marble group is an unrecorded model by Carrier-Belleuse, but one which can be confidently placed within the artist's oeuvre. Throughout his career, Carrier-Belleuse returned repeatedly to the same motif: a proud, allegorical or mythological female figure in different contrapposto poses, and in various degrees of undress. These figures could be part of a group, as with the torchères executed by the artist for the Grand Stairway of the Paris Opéra in 1873 (op. cit. p. xii and fig. 123), or alone, as with his triumphant Diane Victorieuse of 1887 (op. cit. fig. 21). The theme was, of course, particularly applicable to decorative sculptural programmes of Second Empire France, and in his treatise Application de la figure humaine á la décoration et á l'ornementation industrielles, there is a drawing by Carrier-Belleuse for a torchère (pl. 115) which is particularly relevant to the present group.
In treating the subject of this Venus, the artist has looked back to the playful mentality of 18th century France for his inspiration. As with painters such as Boucher or Lancret, Carrier-Belleuse has created a highly decorative rhythmic pattern through the placement of the three putti, and the rippling, wave-like quality of the drapery which plays across the goddess's abdomen and thighs. As the putti attempt to disrobe her, Venus tries to disengage herself from their grasp. However, with her head thrown back, and a smile playing at the corners of her lips, she seems characteristically nonchalant as to the outcome of the game.