Rokeby Venus 1997, the art historian Peter Cherry suggested that Velázquez sought to overcome the contemporary requirement for modesty by portraying Venus from the back. Even in the mid-18th century, an English artist who made a drawing of the Venus when it was in the collection of the Dukes of Alba noted it was "not hung up, owing to the subject". Another attitude to the issue was shown by Morritt, who wrote to Sir Walter Scott of his "fine painting of Venus' backside", which he hung above his main fireplace, so that "the ladies may avert their downcast eyes without difficulty and
Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby Diogenes and other ... doctors of the stoic fur; he flies the life of London and leads a life of such privacy and seriousness as looks to the beholder like wisdom', and in 1756 she reported that he now lived upon almost raw meat, never touched bread, considering corn exotic, and for the same reason substituted honey for sugar. Lord Rokeby died in December 1800, peacefully in his bed. His title and estates passed to his nephew Morris Robinson, 3rd Baron Rokeby. His title and estates passed to his nephew Morris Robinson, 3rd Baron Rokeby. Attribution Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron