In this artwork, how is the History discussed?
A preparatory sketch for it survives in the British Museum. Venus and Cupid with a Satyr (now in the Louvre) seems to be its pendant - that painting is larger but Venus with Mercury and Cupid may have been cut down later. They were probably commissioned by Nicola Maffei (c.1487-1536) and the early fame of Venus with Mercury and Cupid is attested by a copy made by Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli. 
However, the first written reference to the two paintings is in 1627, by which time they were in the Gonzaga collection in Mantua (the Maffeis were closely linked to the Gonzagas). Between 1627 and 1628 both paintings were acquired from the Gonzagas by Charles I and it is attested as being in Whitehall Palace in 1639.
His collection also contained copies of the painting and its pendant by Peter Oliver, known as Venerie Coeleste (Sacred Love) and Venerie Mundano (Profane Love) respectively.At the sale of Charles' goods it was valued at £800 and sold on 23 October 1651 to Thomas Bagley, a glazier in the royal household. It was bought in 1653 by the Spanish ambassador Alonso de Cárdenas for 1600 escudos (£400). He was acting as the agent for Luis de Haro, who had planned to present it to Philip IV of Spain. However, when the painting arrived in Madrid Velazquez challenged its attribution to Correggio and Luis decided to keep it for himself.It was inherited by Luis' son Gaspar de Haro, then by Gaspar's daughter Catalina, wife of Francisco Álvarez de Toledo, 10th Duke of Alba, whose family retained it until 1802. That year the Duchy of Alba was inherited from the Duchess of Alba by the 7th Duke of Berwick and Liria - her relations entered litigation against him, in the course of which Charles IV of Spain ordered that the painting be sold to Manuel de Godoy. De Godoy was arrested six years later, and the painting was confiscated along with the rest of his goods by Joachim Murat, who took it to Naples. After Murat's defeat and execution during the Hundred Days in 1815, his widow Caroline fled to Vienna, taking the painting with her. Later that year she sold it to the future 3rd Marquess of Londonderry. In 1834 Londonderry sold it to  the National Gallery in London, where it now hangs.
Duchess of Alba Manuel de Godoy A preparatory sketch Francisco Álvarez de Toledo, 10th Duke of Alba Charles IV of Spain Joachim Murat Naples 7th Duke of Berwick and Liria Gonzaga collection 3rd Marquess of Londonderry Cupid Mercury Correggio Venus and Cupid with a Satyr Mantua Venus Charles I Gaspar de Haro Alonso de Cárdenas Luis de Haro Velazquez Hundred Days Caroline Louvre National Gallery Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli British Museum Whitehall Palace London Philip IV of Spain Peter Oliver