This representation of Venus is a variation on the classical type known as Chaste Venus, in which the goddess covered her breasts with one hand while holding a fold of her robes over her pubis with the other. Here, however, the arms are the result of an eighteenth-century restoration as the original had the arms cut off in order to allow water to flow out.

There is no documentation as to when this work arrived in Spain and entered the Royal Collection, but it may be related to Francesco I of Medici's stay at the Spanish Court between 1562 and 1563 while negotiating his wedding with Juana de Austria.