Inscribed: Orange white(?) green & green deep blue above gold white red green white ...(?) W14/D/190 Burne-Jones was fascinated by the image of Venus in her chariot drawn by doves, it first appeared as a design for tiles in 1861and then occurs in Laus Veneris (1872-5), The Passing of Venus (begun 1875), on a painted fan (c.1880) and tapestry design (1898). Such chariots were a favourite subject in Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and painting and appear in a more sinister form in one of Burne-Jones's beloved books, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499).