The present work is a sketch for the final work, of the same title, first exhibited at the Royal Academy of 1900 to widespread acclaim. Waterhouse based the sleeping figure of Adonis on a Hellenistic statue of Adriadne in the Vatican (plaster models were also in the British Museum) as well as another Hellentistic statue of Endymion in the British Museum. In this sketch, Adonis' pose is more closely related to the sculptures than in the final version, where his arm has relaxed and his body reclines in a languid repose.

The idea of Adonis being reawakened by Venus as she tended to her dead lover enjoyed great enthusiasm amongst Victorian writers and artists. Sir James George Frazer's The Golden Bough (1890) was a popular source for reawakening myths, especially the sections that specifically discuss Adonis and the spiritual rites of Spring practiced by cultures that celebrated his annual rebirth.

Another study for the final composition was sold at Replica Shoes ’s, London in 2016.