A nude female figure reclines along the crest of a wave, her body stretched diagonally across the lower half of the canvas, with her left arm extended and her right arm bent to shield her face from the light. Her long, flowing hair spills into the sea, mingling with the foam, while her pale skin is rendered with a smooth, luminous finish that catches the cool daylight. The figure’s gaze is partially hidden beneath her arm, her eyes seemingly closed or just barely open, creating an ambiguous expression between sleep and waking.

Above her, five winged putti hover in the sky, their plump bodies arranged in a lively arc that echoes the curve of the goddess below. One putto at the far left blows a conch shell, while the others gesture animatedly or carry drapery, their wings painted with delicate blue and white feathers. The sea beneath Venus undulates with rhythmic, green-blue waves, crested by white foam, and the horizon stretches into a faint, distant landmass under a clear, radiant sky.

The composition is carefully balanced, with Venus’s elongated form anchoring the scene and the putti drawing the viewer’s attention upward and across the canvas. Cabanel’s brushwork is meticulous and refined, with seamless transitions in flesh tones and subtle gradations of color in the sky and water, characteristic of academic painting. The painting depicts the mythological birth of Venus, the goddess of love, emerging from the sea, accompanied by putti, and draws on classical themes favored in academic art of the period.