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
Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby (Baptised, York 12 April 1713 – 30 November 1800), FRS, was an English landowner, politician and nobleman. In later life he was considered an eccentric. Lord Rokeby was born Matthew Robinson in a large family from Yorkshire. His parents were Matthew Robinson (1694–1778) of Edgely and West Layton, Yorkshire, and Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Drake of Cambridge; his sisters included the novelists Elizabeth Montagu and Sarah Scott. Of his six brothers, Thomas the second was known as a legal writer, William the fifth as a cleric, and the youngest, Charles,