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 Venus it would be in reality. The critic Natasha Wallace has speculated that Venus's indistinct face may be the key to the underlying meaning of the painting, in that "it is not intended as a specific female nude, nor even as a portrayal of Venus, but as an image of self-absorbed beauty." According to Wallace, "There is nothing spiritual about face or picture. The classical setting is an excuse for a very material aesthetic sexuality—not sex, as such, but an appreciation of the beauty that accompanies attraction." Intertwining pink silk ribbons are draped over the mirror and curl over its frame.