The little god of love, Cupid, is holding two magnificent pedigree dogs on a chain. The unrealistic difference in strength is the underlying meaning of this picture. Do the dogs stand for loyalty and libidinousness and consequently for the ambivalence of love? Or do they stand for the transition from lust to virtuous love? Such enigmatic qualities were in keeping with the taste of educated collectors in the sixteenth century. Veronese is probably working on a subject from the humanist literature of his time, combining it with an innovative form of naturalism.