This relief in white marble, in a gilt wood frame depicts Venus caging Cupids, in a gilt wood frame. The composition appears to be based on the Pompeian painting, 'Cupids for sale', found at Stabiae and now in the Museo Nazionale, Naples. Flaxman may have seen this painting during his time in Italy (1787-94).

John Flaxman (1755-1826) was an English sculptor, designer and teacher. He was the most famous English Neo-classical sculptor of the late 18th century and the early 19th. He focused on monumental sculpture and church monuments and portrait busts. A large collection of his plaster models is held in the Strang Print Room, University College, London. He also made outline illustrations of Homer, Aeschylus and Dante. Many of those in his sketchbooks (now in the V&A) were drawn from the antique while he was in Italy. Furthermore he produced models for pottery and silver supplying the pottery manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood among others. He thus can be considered as an important pioneer in the development of Industrial Design.