Ruth Leon recommends… The Rokeby Venus
Ruth Leon recommendsOne Painting, Many Voices – The Rokeby Venus – National Gallery
The Rokeby Venus is one of the most puzzling and famous nudes in the National Gallery and, as this video demonstrates, everybody who sees it has a different view of what it is and what it shows.
A variety of women comment on the painting from their own personal or professional perspective, introduced by curator Letitzia Treves, who sets the scene by explaining how little is known about when, why and for whom Diego Velasquez painted it.
The Rokeby Venus isn’t even the painting’s original name. We don’t know who the model was but, although she has her back to us, the viewers, we see her face in a mirror held above the bed on which she reclines.
But is that her? Is the woman in the mirror the same woman as the one who shows us only her back? It’s very mysterious but, the closer we look, the deeper its mystery becomes.
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Diego Velázquez is de correct spelling of the painter
Hmm, the angle of the mirror is absolutely definite; she is not looking at, nor pretending to look at, herself. She is looking at the viewer.
Add to that Cupid’s pose which is unambiguously playful.
This is a picture of a flirt.
It is Velázquez, not Velasquez.
Had the glass smashed by protesters today.