Rokeby Venus may have commissioned himself, "The Nude Maja" and "The Clothed Maja". These bear obvious compositional similarities with Velázquez's "Venus", although unlike Velázquez, Goya clearly painted his nude in a calculated attempt to provoke shame and disgust in the relatively unenlightened climate of 18th-century Spain. "Venus" was brought to England in 1813, where it was purchased by John Morritt for £500 (£ in 2019), and on the advice of his friend Sir Thomas Lawrence. Morritt hung it in his house at Rokeby Park, Yorkshire—thus the painting's popular name. In 1906, the painting was acquired for the National Gallery by the newly
Rokeby, Ontario at the 'meeting of the waters'. It seems likely that both Colborne and Thomas Need would have been familiar with this part of England, and possibly with the painting. They would certainly have been familiar with the epic poem "Rokeby", by Sir Walter Scott, which was written, and set, in that locality. Rokeby would have been a natural choice for this place of rapids, rocks, and waterfalls - which we now know as Bobcaygeon. Rokeby, Ontario Rokeby, Ontario was the Government townsite located on the mainland at Bobcaygeon, Ontario, Canada, by the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, Sir John Colborne. Through