Sappho is shown holding a parchment inscribed "ἔλθε μοι καὶ νῦν, χαλέπαν δὲ λῦσον ἐκ μερίμναν" ('So come again and save me from unbearable pain'[1]), the first lines of the last verse of her Ode to Aphrodite in ancient Greek from Joseph Addison's 1735 edition of the work.

[2] A second version showing Sappho as an adult is a pendant to Ariadne Abandoned by Theseus; both were probably completed at the same time as the Florida work.

It was presented as Mother and Child as Venus and Cupid at the 1783 Free Society of Artists exhibition in London and (unlike the Florida work) has a rocky landscape background with a volcano reminiscent of that in Sappho Gives Anacreon a Feather from Cupid's Wing by Antonio Zucchi, Kauffman's future husband.

[3] On being exhibited at the 1775 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition the work now in Florida was simply entitled Sappho, though from an unknown date until 1971 it was mistitled Woman as Venus with Cupid and Virgin and Child.

It was probably then acquired by John Baker Holroyd, remaining in his family until it was sold at Christie's in 1928.