The stress that the artist experienced through his extra-marital affair is vividly conveyed in this tense and contorted figure. His arched back, the uncomfortable position of the limbs portray a body in distress which is transferred into the Liverpool oil study for which this is a variant from the same model. At this stage in his career Burne-Jones incorporated a number of of male figures, fallen victims of conflict into his work such as in Helen at the burning of Troy, Fortune Fame Oblivion Love, and Venus Discordia.