Phaedra, the wife of Theseus, fell in love with Hippolytus, the son of Theseus by Hippolyta, and after a vain attempt to subdue her passion, is represented in this picture as declaring it. Hippolytus rejecting her addresses, the nurse or confident is seen endeavouring to persuade and pacify him.

Nothing can exceed the grace of Phaedra, or the masterly touches by which the folds of her drapery are expressed in the original painting.