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
Rokeby Venus "Venus and Cupid with a Partridge", "Venus and Cupid with an Organist" and notably the "Venus of Urbino"; Palma il Vecchio's "Reclining Nude"; and Giorgione's "Sleeping Venus", all of which show the deity reclining on luxurious textiles, although in landscape settings in the latter two works. The use of a centrally placed mirror was inspired by the painters of the Italian High Renaissance, including Titian, Girolamo Savoldo and Lorenzo Lotto, who used mirrors as an active protagonist, as opposed to more than merely a prop or accessory in the pictorial space. Both Titian and Peter Paul Rubens had already painted