A muscular sea god, with dragon-like wings sprouting from his hips, is carrying off a naked woman. They are surrounded by winged infants known as putti and a host of marine divinities, some of whom ride on dolphins. Cupid aims an arrow at the couple in the centre. This is a working drawing, or cartoon, for part of the frescoed ceiling of the Gallery in Palazzo Farnese, Rome. The project was largely designed and executed by Annibale Caracci, with the assistance of his older brother Agostino.The ceiling shows stories taken from classical mythology based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, and in particular the loves of the gods. However, we are not exactly sure of the subject of this cartoon and its fresco. The theme of the fresco facing it on the opposite side (the cartoon for which is also in the National Gallery’s collection) is unrequited love, but the woman in this drawing seems far from reluctant to be carried away.