The work, already completed in 1787, is one of Canova's first pictorial expressions: in his Book of accounts 1783-1788, Canova explicitly mentions that he had given way, in the days following November 5, 1787, to the creation of two paintings, one of which turns out to be Venus with the mirror. The painting, abandoned for several years in a corner of the Rome studio, was considered by many to be the work of an ancient painter. Pietro Vitali, Venetian, wanted to engrave it in copper. The pose of Venus lying on a dormeuse is similar to "Venus with Faun" (another oil painting from the Canova Museum in Possagno) and to Paolina Borghese, one of Canova's most famous sculptures.