In Francsco Righetti's 1794 catalogue 'Aux amateurs de L'Antiquité et des Beaux Arts', the present bronze is described as the 'Amor et Psiche de Comte Foy', and was available at a cost of 33 zecchini (Haskell and Penny, op. cit., p. 343). It represents an interesting record of a lost variant of the famous antique marble group. This variant was recorded in a drawing by Pompeo Batoni dating from the late 1730's (Haskell and Penny, op. cit., fig. 52), and is described as belonging to Count Fede, who discovered it on the site of Hadrian's Villa. The group was well known to grand tourists of the 18th century, but was gradually overshadowed by the growing popularity of the version now housed in the Capitoline Museum. The marble is still recorded as being in Fede's collection in 1752, but by the late 18th century its location was unknown, and it remains untraced by scholars (Haskell and Penny, op. cit., pp. 189-191).
The main difference between the two groups involved Cupid's rebuttal of Psyche and averted gaze, and was the consequence of a misguided reconstruction of the Comte Foy group before the discovery of the Capitoline one. The drapery covering Cupid's loins was Righetti's addition.