Leighton's five contributions to the Royal Academy of 1867 were marked by an increasing devotion to Greek ideals, and by a refinement of finish.

B. Atkinson praised the work, declaring that "Mr Leighton, instead of adopting corrupt Roman notions regarding Venus such as Rubens embodied, has wisely reverted to the Greek idea of Aphrodite, a goddess worshipped, and by artists painted, as the perfection of female grace and beauty.

There are a stillness and a depth in treatment which harmonize serenely with the blaze of a midday sun and call to mind the grand effects of Turner and Claude.

The goddess, admirably drawn and modelled, is just disengaging her sandal; her pose is quite after Leonardo da Vinci's manner.

The accessories are beautifully rendered—the marble columns, the standard rose-bush in full flower, the pair of white doves, and the deep blue sea and crimson-streaked sky beyond.