 Fuseli's knowledge of art history was broad, allowing critics to propose sources for the painting's elements in antique, classical, and Renaissance art.According to art critic Nicholas Powell, the woman's pose may derive from the Vatican "Ariadne", and the style of the incubus from , an archaeological site in Sicily.A source for the woman in Giulio Romano's "The Dream of Hecuba" at the Palazzo del Te has also been proposed.