Rokeby Venus been cited as sources of inspiration for Velázquez. The nude Venuses of the Italian painters, such as Giorgione's "Sleeping Venus" (c. 1510) and Titian's "Venus of Urbino" (1538), were the main precedents. In this work, Velázquez combined two established poses for Venus: recumbent on a couch or a bed, and gazing at a mirror. She is often described as looking at herself on the mirror, although this is physically impossible since viewers can see her face reflected in their direction. This phenomenon is known as the Venus effect. In a number of ways the painting represents a pictorial departure, through
Baron Rokeby a general in the British Army. The 6th Lord Rokeby had no surviving male issue and on his death in 1883 the barony and baronetcy became extinct. The Baronetcy, of Rokeby Park in the County of York, was created in the Baronetage of Great Britain on 2 March 1730 for the architect, collector and politician Thomas Robinson, with remainder, in default of male issue of his own, to his brothers and to his father’s second cousin Matthew Robinson, and the heirs male of their bodies. He was a descendant of William Robinson who acquired the Rokeby estate in the North