Rokeby Venus painted by many later artists. Manet, in his stark female portrayal "Olympia", paraphrased the "Rokeby Venus" in pose and by suggesting the persona of a real woman rather than an ethereal goddess. "Olympia" shocked the Parisian art world when it was first exhibited in 1863. Olympia gazes directly out at the viewer, as does Velázquez's Venus, only through the reflection of the mirror. The 1961 film "The Happy Thieves" features a plan to steal the picture from a Spanish mansion. On 10 March 1914, the suffragette Mary Richardson walked into the National Gallery and attacked Velázquez's canvas with a meat
Rokeby Stables Rokeby Stables Rokeby Stables was an American thoroughbred racehorse breeding farm in Upperville, Virginia involved with both steeplechase and flat racing. The operation was established in the late 1940s by Paul Mellon (1907–1999) who won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder in 1971 and again in 1986. Under Mellon the stable had more than 1,000 stakes race winners with total earnings in excess of US$30 million. Rokeby Stables' American Way was the 1948 American Steeplechase Champion and in 1990 Molotov won the American Grand National steeplechase. Among its many successful horses, the stable owned the good runner Winter's Tale, Kentucky