The first panel. The unworldly beauty of Psyche, the daughter of a king, has made her the object of people's universal veneration. The wrath of Venus is aroused when she sees the honours due to the gods thus immoderately given to a mortal maiden. The goddess orders her son Cupid to punish Psyche for her presumptuous beauty by making her fall in love with the most worthless of men, but when he catches sight of the girl, the god of love himself is captivated by her beauty.

The Story of Psyche was created under the influence of Early Italian Renaissance art. In 1895 Denis visited Italy where he admired Raphael's frescoes in the Villa Farnesina in Rome. Subsequently, when working on Morozov's commission, the artist used the "Cupid and Psyche" theme, but made changes to the interpretation. Denis chose The Story of Psyche - a self-contained tale included in Apuleius's book Metamorphoses, or The Golden Ass - because of 'its idyllic character, full of mystery". Like the Ancient Greeks, Denis wanted to see Psyche as the embodiment of the human soul yearning to merge with love.