Rokeby Venus created National Art Collections Fund, its first campaigning triumph. King Edward VII greatly admired the painting, and anonymously provided £8,000 (£ in 2019) towards its purchase, and became Patron of the Fund thereafter. In part because he was overlooked until the mid-19th century, Velázquez found no followers and was not widely imitated. In particular, his visual and structural innovations in this portrayal of Venus were not developed by other artists until recently, largely owing to the censorship of the work. The painting remained in a series of private rooms in private collections until it was exhibited in 1857 at the
Baron Rokeby Baron Rokeby Baron Rokeby, of Armagh in the County of Armagh, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1777 for The Most Rev. Dr Richard Robinson, Lord Primate of All Ireland and Lord Archbishop of Armagh, with remainder to his brothers and his father's second cousin Matthew Robinson and the heirs male of their bodies. In 1785 he also succeeded his elder brother as 3rd Baronet according to a special remainder (see below). Lord Rokeby never married and was succeeded in the barony and baronetcy according to the special remainders in the letters patent by