Inspite of the inscription added later ( Philip Burne-jones's hand ) identifying the figure as for Galatea in the Pygmalion Series , the present drawing is for one of the lovers in The Fountain of Youth c.1885. The previous dating of 1868 is stylistically incorrect. The previous identification is understandable, but when studied closely the gaze which is always direct in Galatea, is lost in this drawing and corresponds to to the figure in the Fountain of Youth. A series of studies of this figure exists in the sketchbooks held in the Minneapolis Museum and in the Los Angleles Museum and Art Gallery supporting the fact that this is part of that series and not a study of Galatea.
Burne-Jones made his first designs for the story of Pygmalion and the Image in 1867. These were part of a group intended to illustrate a lavish edition of William Morris's poem 'The Earthly Paradise'. The myth, which Morris adapted from Ovid, concerns a sculptor whose love for one of his own creations is the means of its coming to life. For his paintings, Burne-Jones compressed the story into four scenes, working from 1868 simultaneously on two versions of the series (the set he exhibited in 1879 is in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery). This drawing is a preliminary study for the third scene, in which the goddess Venus animates the statue. Tate Gallery label, September 2004