Rokeby Venus painted by many later artists. Manet, in his stark female portrayal "Olympia", paraphrased the "Rokeby Venus" in pose and by suggesting the persona of a real woman rather than an ethereal goddess. "Olympia" shocked the Parisian art world when it was first exhibited in 1863. Olympia gazes directly out at the viewer, as does Velázquez's Venus, only through the reflection of the mirror. The 1961 film "The Happy Thieves" features a plan to steal the picture from a Spanish mansion. On 10 March 1914, the suffragette Mary Richardson walked into the National Gallery and attacked Velázquez's canvas with a meat
Rokeby Preparatory School school. A year later numbers had increased sufficiently to warrant a larger premises, so the school was moved to another house known as "Rokeby" (at no. 17, The Downs) in 1879 – a site now occupied by Hall School Wimbledon. When the Association of Preparatory Schools was founded in 1892 (a precursor to the current IAPS), Rokeby was one of the first members. In 1965 the then owner of the school stated his intent to close it, and a group of parents decided that it should be rescued. Rokeby Educational Trust Limited, a charity, was set up in 1966 to