Rokeby Venus as well as classical sculptures known to Velázquez, of which casts were made for Madrid. These were the "Sleeping Ariadne" now in the Pitti Palace, but then in Rome, of which Velázquez ordered a cast for the Royal collection in 1650–51, and the Borghese Hermaphroditus, a sleeping hermaphrodite (picture to the right above), now in the Louvre, of which a cast was sent to Madrid, and which also emphasises the curve from hip to waist. However, the combination of elements in Velázquez's composition was original. The "Rokeby Venus" may have been intended as a pendant to a sixteenth-century Venetian painting
Venus and Musician death in 1510 Titian had completed his "Dresden Venus", and then around 1534 had painted the "Venus of Urbino". A repetition of this from 1545, perhaps a lost recorded "Venus" sent to Charles V, "was the basis" for the "Venus and Musician" series. Unlike these, the Cupid in most versions of "Venus and Musician" does allow a clear identification of the female as Venus, despite the modern decor. Otherwise the painting falls into the category showing courtesans, though these are also often described as "Venus", if only to retain some propriety. In all an unembarassed Venus is completely naked, except