 Pandora Crowned by the Seasons is an unusual composition , painted to resemble a bas @-@ relief in which the different elements are emerging from a flat background . The figure of Pandora stands in the centre , with Vulcan to one side and Venus and Cupid to the other , each leaning away from her ; the figures of Vulcan and Venus , along with the four figures representing the seasons in the upper corners of the canvas , create a diamond shape around Pandora . The foot of Vulcan rests upon the picture frame , a favourite device of Rubens ; elements of the picture 's composition are also taken from an 1817 engraving on the same subject , drawn by Etty 's fellow York artist John Flaxman and engraved by William Blake . As with all Etty 's history paintings from this time on , he worked by painting the figures first , and only filling in the background once the figures were complete . 
