Victor Oskar Tilgner (1844-96) was born in Hungary, but worked primarily in Austria. From 1859 to 1871 Tilgner studied at the Vienna Academy with Franz Bauer and Josef Gassers. He was awarded several medals for his work, and continued his apprenticeship under the French sculptor Gustave Deloye, whose neo-baroque style greatly influenced Tilgner. Tilgner first achieved public acclaim with his baroque-style bust of the tragic actress Charlotte Wolter, which won the gold medal at the 1873 International Exhibition in Vienna.
Tilgner returned from his travels in Italy and established himself as a prominent sculptor of busts and large marble figures, for example the numerous mythological fountain figures in Vienna, Ischl and Pressburg. Inspired by the delicate Rococo style, Tilgner has created a graceful vision of the goddess of love in the present marble. The composition is neatly balanced with the dove's wing and the foliage enclosing either side of the base of the triangular marble. The sculptor has subtly contrasted the smooth rounded forms of Venus with the fluttering drapery; the latter confering movement together with tilted head, the right foot overstepping the base and the flying dove, to an otherwise classically poised oeuvre.