维纳斯··维迪克迪亚（Venus Verticordia）的意思是维纳斯，心灵的转化者，它来自拉丁文学，爱与美的女神维纳斯有着使女性的内心转向美德的作用。但是，但丁·加布里埃尔·罗塞蒂（Dante Gabriel Rossetti）却反其道而行之，让男人的内心远离忠诚。玫瑰，金银花，苹果和裸露的身体组成了这幅画爱与性的主题。 它也是艺术家作品中仅有的裸体作品之一。罗塞蒂的想法在他专门为此创作的十四行诗中可见一斑：
She hath the apple in her hand for thee,
Yet almost in her heart would hold it back;
She muses, with her eyes upon the track
Of that which in thy spirit they can see.
Haply, “Behold, he is at peace,” saith she;
“Alas! the apple for his lips, - the dart
That follows its brief sweetness to his heart, -
The wandering of his feet perpetually!”
A little space her glance is still and coy;
But if she give the fruit that works her spell,
Those eyes shall flame as for her Phrygian boy.
Then shall her bird's strained throat the woe foretell,
And her far seas moan as a single shell,
And through her dark grove strike the light of Troy.