The Rokeby VenusDiego Velázquez, 1647–1651
Oil on canvas
122 × 177 cm
National Gallery, London
The Rokeby Venus (also known as Venus at her Mirror, Venus and Cupid, or ' La Venus del espejo') is a painting by Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age, in the National Gallery, London. Completed between 1647 and 1651 and probably painted during the artist's visit to Italy, the work depicts the goddess Venus in a sensually erotic pose, lying on a bed looking into a mirror held by the god of love and sex, Cupid.
The Rokeby Venus is the only surviving female nude by Velázquez, and one of only two such paintings in 17th-century Spanish art, which was often censored by the Spanish Inquisition. It was innovative in showing an athletic female nude form; nude works had conventionally depicted rounder, full-bodied women, and it is this break that makes the painting provocative. The composition has only three main colours: red, white and grey, which include the pigment of Venus's skin. In The Rokeby Venus Velázquez combines two traditional methods of portraying Venus; recumbent on a bed (as in Titian's Venus and Cupid with an Organist), and gazing into a mirror. While numerous works, from the ancient to the baroque, have been cited as sources of inspiration for Velázquez, in many ways the painting represents a departure.
The Rokeby Venus is the only surviving female nude by Velázquez, and one of only two such paintings in 17th-century Spanish art, which was often censored by the Spanish Inquisition. It was innovative in showing an athletic female nude form; nude works had conventionally depicted rounder, full-bodied women, and it is this break that makes the painting provocative. The composition has only three main colours: red, white and grey, which include the pigment of Venus's skin. In The Rokeby Venus Velázquez combines two traditional methods of portraying Venus; recumbent on a bed (as in Titian's Venus and Cupid with an Organist), and gazing into a mirror. While numerous works, from the ancient to the baroque, have been cited as sources of inspiration for Velázquez, in many ways the painting represents a departure.
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