[2] Pygmalion is seen here in his studio, pondering his lonely life, having chosen to remain celibate in disgust at what he saw as the debauched lifestyles of the local women.

Playing God, he has created woman and now stands back to admire her, holding the cold chisel against his face as though scared to touch his creation again.

In Ovid's version of the story, the scene is set while Pygmalion is at the temple of Aphrodite, praying for forgiveness for the years he has shunned her and begging for a wife as perfect as his marble woman.

Aphrodite is identified by the presence of doves and roses – symbols commonly linked with the goddess – and the water at her feet, reminiscent of her birth, fully formed, from the sea.

In a scene that is strongly evocative of Michelangelo's Creation painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the goddess adds colour and sensuality to Pygmalion's austere studio and Galatea's soft flesh.

Although not imbued with the depth and texture of The Merciful Knight (1863), this second attempt at portraying the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea has become regarded as one of the artist's most important works.

It was exhibited at Sir Coutt Lindsay's new Grosvenor Gallery in 1879, thereby establishing Burne-Jones as one of the leading artists in the burgeoning Aesthetic Movement.