Rokeby Venus its central use of a mirror, and because it shows the body of Venus turned away from the observer of the painting. The "Rokeby Venus" is the only surviving female nude by Velázquez. Nudes were extremely rare in seventeenth-century Spanish art, which was policed actively by members of the Spanish Inquisition. Despite this, nudes by foreign artists were keenly collected by the court circle, and this painting was hung in the houses of Spanish courtiers until 1813, when it was brought to England to hang in Rokeby Park, Yorkshire. In 1906, the painting was purchased by National Art Collections Fund
Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby The Most Rev. Dr Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby (1708 – 10 October 1794), was an Anglo-Irish ecclesiastic. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford (BA 1730, MA 1733, BD & DD 1748). Robinson came to Ireland as chaplain to the Duke of Dorset in 1751. He was translated from the See of Kildare to the Archbishopric of Armagh in 1765. In 1777 he was created Baron Rokeby, of Armagh in the County of Armagh, in the Peerage of Ireland, with special remainder to Matthew Robinson (1694–1778) of West Layton, in the