A reclining nude woman, adorned with a pearl necklace and bracelet, gazes outward while her body stretches across rich, rumpled drapery of deep red. To the left, a man in a black cap and gold-trimmed doublet sits turned away from the viewer, intent on playing a lute, his left hand pressing the strings while his right hand strums. Scattered sheets of music lie at the feet of both the woman and the musician, their pages open and inscribed with visible staves and notes.

Behind the figures, a broad window opens onto a lush landscape, where trees, fields, and a distant blue mountain are illuminated under a sky of drifting clouds. The figures are framed by heavy curtains of crimson fabric, drawn back to reveal both the interior scene and the expansive view beyond. Light falls from the left, catching the woman's pale skin and the lustrous folds of the drapery, while the musician's face is partly shadowed, emphasizing the contrast between interior and exterior.

The brushwork is smooth and fluid, especially in the rendering of flesh and fabric, while the landscape is painted with softer, more atmospheric strokes. The composition arranges the three figures in a diagonal line, leading from the musician at the back left to the reclining Venus and the playful Cupid at the right. A small winged child stands behind the reclining woman, reaching up to place a garland of flowers on her head.

The child’s golden wings catch the light, with delicate feathers rendered in soft, short brushstrokes. In the lower right corner, the edge of a large, rounded musical instrument is visible, its orange-brown body partly cropped by the frame. The upper left and right corners are dominated by heavy, dark red drapery, their folds painted with deep shadows and subtle highlights. Venus and Cupid with a lute-player is the work of Titian, a leading figure of the Venetian school in the 16th century.

The painting dates from between 1555 and 1565.