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
Thomas de Rokeby (died 1356) the son of Thomas de Rokeby, who died in 1318 (some sources name his father as Alexander). His nephew, also named Thomas, was closely associated with him in his later years and the elder Thomas was often called "l'oncle" to distinguish him from his nephew. It was almost certainly the nephew, not the uncle, who was the grandfather of the second Sir Thomas de Rokeby, who died after 1423. Rokeby first came to public attention in 1327 when, after his return from having been a prisoner in Scotland, he received the thanks of the new King Edward III, for being