Rokeby Venus 1997, the art historian Peter Cherry suggested that Velázquez sought to overcome the contemporary requirement for modesty by portraying Venus from the back. Even in the mid-18th century, an English artist who made a drawing of the Venus when it was in the collection of the Dukes of Alba noted it was "not hung up, owing to the subject". Another attitude to the issue was shown by Morritt, who wrote to Sir Walter Scott of his "fine painting of Venus' backside", which he hung above his main fireplace, so that "the ladies may avert their downcast eyes without difficulty and
Rokeby (Leesburg, Virginia) State James Monroe. The house was purchased in 1830 by Benjamin Shreve, Jr., who altered the earlier clipped gables to their present form and who changed the interior trim details. At about 1886, under the ownership of O.E. Breese, the house was first called "Rokeby." The Breese family made the additions to the rear of the house. It was restored in 1958. Rokeby was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 30, 1976. Rokeby (Leesburg, Virginia) Rokeby is a Georgian house near Leesburg, Virginia, built in the mid-18th century. The house is the best example of Georgian