The present bronze is a reduction of one of two versions of this group that were known in the 18th century. This variant was discovered in 1749 on the estate of the Canonico Panicale on the Aventine, and presented to the Capitoline Museum that same year by Pope Benedict XIV (Haskell and Penny, op. cit., pp. 189-91, fig. 98). It soon overtook in popularity the other group, which was discovered by its owner, Count Fede, on the site of Hadrian's Villa, and was still in his collection in 1752, but has remained untraced since the late 18th century. Its appearance is recorded in a drawing by Pompeo Batoni dating from the late 1730's (Haskell and Penny, op. cit., fig. 52).
The main difference between the two groups involved Cupid's rebuttal of Psyche and averted gaze in the Fede group, which was the consequence of a misguided restoration of this element before the discovery of the Capitoline marble.