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126-493: A valuable painting belonging to Duchess Blanca ( Alida Valli ) is stolen at night from her castle in Spain by one of her houseguests, Jimmy Bourne ( Rex Harrison ), who replaces the original work with a duplicate. The debonair gentleman thief then passes the painting to his partner in crime, Eve Lewis ( Rita Hayworth ). However, the artwork is subsequently stolen from them by a man acting on behalf of Dr. Victor Muñoz ( Grégoire Aslan ),

252-569: A Danaë ) in a landscape, in the same pose, but seen from the front. The two were hung together for many years in Spain when in the collection of Gaspar Méndez de Haro, 7th Marquis of Carpio (1629–1687); at what point they were initially paired is uncertain. The portrayal of nudes was officially discouraged in 17th-century Spain. Works could be seized or repainting demanded by the Inquisition, and artists who painted licentious or immoral works were often excommunicated, fined, or banished from Spain for

378-530: A calculated attempt to provoke shame and disgust in the relatively unenlightened climate of 18th-century Spain. During the Peninsular War , there was looting of art by the Napoleonic army , and British buyers took advantage to purchase works from Spanish owners eager to sell. The Venus passed through the hands of George Augustus Wallis , a British painter who worked in Spain as an agent for William Buchanan,

504-462: A combined army between the two of them that could outmatch the military of most noble coalitions in the Peninsula. It was impossible to change the entire laws of both realms by force alone, and due to reasonable suspicion of one another, the monarchs kept their kingdoms separate during their lifetimes. The only way to unify both kingdoms and ensure that Isabella, Ferdinand, and their descendants maintained

630-450: A couch or a bed, and gazing at a mirror. She is often described as looking at herself in the mirror, although this is physically impossible since viewers can see her face reflected in their direction. This phenomenon is known as the Venus effect . In some ways the painting represents a pictorial departure, through its central use of a mirror, and because it shows the body of Venus turned away from

756-539: A fear of a second Muslim invasion, and in turn a second Muslim occupation, that was hardly unfounded. This fear may have been the base reason for the expulsion of those citizens who had either a religious reason to support the invasion of the Ottomans (Moriscos) or no particular religious reason to be against it (Jews). The Inquisition might have been part of the preparations to enforce these measures and ensure their effectiveness by rooting out false converts that would still pose

882-479: A female nude, "a type of work which was carefully supervised and whose dissemination was considered problematic". These revelations make the painting difficult to date. Velázquez's painting technique offers no assistance, although its strong emphasis on colour and tone suggest that the work dates from his mature period. The best estimates of its origin put its completion in the late 1640s or early 1650s, either in Spain or during Velázquez's last visit to Italy. If this

1008-467: A fervent proponent of absolute authority for the church over the kings. Carrillo actively opposed them both and often used Spain's "mixed blood" as an excuse to intervene. The papacy and the monarchs of Europe had been involved in a rivalry for power throughout the high Middle Ages that Rome already won in other powerful kingdoms, like France . Since the legitimacy granted by the church was necessary for both monarchs, especially Isabella, to stay in power,

1134-455: A glance without drawing the said posterior into the company". The Rokeby Venus was long held to be one of Velázquez's final works. In 1951, it was found recorded in an inventory of 1 June 1651 from the collection of Gaspar Méndez de Haro, 7th Marquis of Carpio , a close associate of Philip IV of Spain . Haro was the great-nephew of Velázquez's first patron, the Count-Duke of Olivares , and

1260-455: A lecture at the Royal Academy in 1910 claimed that "two pigments used in the picture did not exist in the time of Velasquez." The critic, James Grieg hypothesised that it was by Anton Raphael Mengs —although he found little support for his idea—and there was more serious discussion about the possibility of Velázquez's son-in-law and pupil, Juan del Mazo as the artist. Velázquez's portrait

1386-691: A life of considerable personal liberty that would have been consistent with the notion of using a live nude female model". It has been claimed that the painting depicts a mistress Velázquez is known to have had while in Italy, who is supposed to have borne his child. Others have claimed that the model is the same as in Coronation of the Virgin and Las Hilanderas , both in the Museo del Prado , and other works. The figures of both Venus and Cupid were significantly altered during

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1512-544: A major art dealer. In October 1813 Buchanan had offered shares in a package of 24 top paintings, including the Venus , from Spanish collections to wealthy English collectors, who would be able to either buy them themselves, or share in the profits from sales to others in London. This arrangement was similar to that by which the cream of the Orleans Collection had been brought to London some years earlier. In England it

1638-584: A man who didn’t know the meaning of piety, but who made political use of it and would have achieved little if he had known it. He was Machiavelli’s main inspiration while writing The Prince . The hierarchy of the Catholic Church had made many attempts during the Middle Ages to take over Christian Spain politically, such as claiming the Church's ownership over all land reconquered from non-Christians (a claim that

1764-530: A mirror, and as both had had close ties to the Spanish court, their examples would have been familiar to Velázquez. However, "this girl with her small waist and jutting hip, does not resemble the fuller more rounded Italian nudes inspired by ancient sculpture". One innovation of the Rokeby Venus , when compared to other large single nude paintings, lies in the fact that Velázquez depicts a back view of its subject who

1890-420: A nation. Machiavelli considered piety and morals desirable for the subjects but not so much for the ruler, who should use them as a way to unify its population. He also warned of the nefarious influence of a corrupt church in the creation of a selfish population and middle nobility, which had fragmented the peninsula and made it unable to resist either France or Aragon. German philosophers at the time were spreading

2016-628: A new bull (1482) categorically prohibiting the Inquisition's extension to Aragón , affirming that: ... in Aragon, Valencia, Mallorca and Catalonia the Inquisition has for some time been moved not by zeal for the faith and the salvation of souls, but by lust for wealth, and that many true and faithful Christians, on the testimony of enemies, rivals, slaves and other lower and even less proper persons, have without any legitimate proof been thrust into secular prisons, tortured and condemned as relapsed heretics, deprived of their goods and property and handed over to

2142-497: A new bull, threatening that he would otherwise separate the Inquisition from Church authority. Sixtus did so on 17 October 1483, naming Tomás de Torquemada Inquisidor General of Aragón, Valencia, and Catalonia . Torquemada quickly established procedures for the Inquisition. In 1484, based on Nicholas Eymerich 's Directorium Inquisitorum , he created a twenty-eight-article inquisitor's code, Compilación de las instrucciones del oficio de la Santa Inquisición (i.e. Compilation of

2268-404: A notorious libertine . According to the art historian Dawson Carr, Haro "loved paintings almost as much as he loved women", and "even his panegyrists lamented his excessive taste for lower-class women during his youth". For these reasons it seemed likely that he would have commissioned the painting. However, in 2001 the art historian Ángel Aterido discovered that the painting had first belonged to

2394-494: A reclining nude viewed from the rear was a rarity before that time, although the pose has been 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. On 10 March 1914, the suffragette Mary Richardson walked into

2520-558: A saint) in Zaragoza on 15 September 1485 caused public opinion to turn against the conversos and in favour of the Inquisition. In Aragón, the Inquisitorial courts focused specifically on members of the powerful converso minority, ending their influence in the Aragonese administration. The Inquisition was extremely active between 1480 and 1530. Different sources give different estimates of

2646-458: A scantily clad figure in a mythological painting by Michelangelo . In 1632, a pamphlet was published with the title "A copy of the opinions and censorship by the most revered fathers, masters and senior professors of the distinguished universities of Salamanca and Alcalá , and other scholars on the abuse of lascivious and indecent figures and paintings, which are mortal sin to be painted, carved and displayed where they can be seen". Preceding

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2772-656: A threat of foreign espionage. In favor of this view, there is the military sense it makes, the many early attempts of peaceful conversion and persuasion that the Monarchs used at the beginning of their reign, and the sudden turn towards the creation of the Inquisition and the edicts of expulsion when those initial attempts failed. The conquest of Naples by the Gran Capitan is also proof of an interest in Mediterranean expansion and re-establishment of Spanish power in that sea that

2898-700: A tool to turn both actual Spain and the Spanish image more European and improve relations with the Pope. The alleged discovery of Morisco plots to support a possible Ottoman invasion was a crucial factor in their decision to create the Inquisition. At this time, the Ottoman Empire was experiencing rapid growth, and the Aragonese Mediterranean Empire was crumbling under debt and war exhaustion. Ferdinand reasonably feared that he would not be capable of repelling an Ottoman attack on Spain’s shores, especially if

3024-444: A voluntary convert, and accordingly forbidden to revert to Judaism. After the public violence, many of the converts "felt it safer to remain in their new religion." Thus, after 1391, a new social group appeared and was referred to as conversos or New Christians . Many conversos , now freed from the anti-Semitic restrictions imposed on Jewish employment, attained important positions in fifteenth-century Spain, including positions in

3150-418: A year. However, within intellectual and aristocratic circles, the aims of art were believed to supersede questions of morality, and there were many, generally mythological, nudes in private collections. Velázquez's patron, the art-loving King Philip IV, held a number of nudes by Titian and Rubens, and Velázquez, as the king's painter, need not have feared painting such a picture. Leading collectors, including

3276-449: Is a staging of a private moment of intimacy and a dramatic departure from the classical depictions of sleep and intimacy found in works from antiquity and Venetian art that portray Venus. However, the simplicity with which Velázquez displays the female nude—without jewellery or any of the goddess's usual accessories—was echoed in later nude studies by Ingres , Manet , and Baudry , among others. In addition, Velázquez's depiction of Venus as

3402-401: Is an excuse for a very material aesthetic sexuality—not sex, as such, but an appreciation of the beauty that accompanies attraction." Intertwining pink silk ribbons are draped over the mirror and curl over its frame. The ribbon's function has been the subject of much debate by art historians; suggestions include an allusion to the fetters used by Cupid to bind lovers, that it was used to hang

3528-470: Is apparently unfinished, but this feature is seen in many other works by Velázquez and was probably deliberate. The painting was given a major cleaning and restoration in 1965–66, which showed it to be in good condition, and with very little paint added later by other artists, contrary to what some earlier writers had asserted. Paintings of nudes and of Venus by Italian, and especially Venetian, artists were influences on Velázquez. His version is, according to

3654-508: Is in the National Gallery , London. Numerous works, from the ancient to the baroque , have been cited as sources of inspiration for Velázquez. The nude Venuses of the Italian painters, such as Giorgione 's Sleeping Venus ( c.  1510 ) and Titian 's Venus of Urbino (1538), were the main precedents. In this work, Velázquez combined two established poses for Venus: recumbent on

3780-414: Is the case, then the breadth of handling and the dissolution of form can be seen to mark the beginning of the artist's final period. The conscientious modelling and strong tonal contrasts of his earlier work are here replaced by a restraint and subtlety which would culminate in his late masterpiece, Las Meninas . The painting passed from Haro into the collection of his daughter Catalina de Haro y Guzmán,

3906-429: Is the most beautiful character in modern history." She added in a 1952 interview that she did not like "the way men visitors gaped at it all day long". The feminist writer Lynda Nead observed, "The incident has come to symbolize a particular perception of feminist attitudes towards the female nude; in a sense, it has come to represent a specific stereotypical image of feminism more generally." Contemporary reports of

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4032-531: Is the only surviving nude by Velázquez, but three others by the artist are recorded in 17th-century Spanish inventories. Two were mentioned in the Royal collection, but may have been lost in the 1734 fire that destroyed the main Royal Palace of Madrid . A further one was recorded in the collection of Domingo Guerra Coronel. These records mention "a reclining Venus", Venus and Adonis , and a Psyche and Cupid . The work

4158-567: Is turned away from the viewer. There were precedents for this in prints by Giulio Campagnola , Agostino Veneziano , Hans Sebald Beham and Theodor de Bry , 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

4284-405: Is widely thought to have been painted from life, but the identity of the model is subject to speculation. In contemporary Spain it was acceptable for artists to employ male nude models for studies, but the use of female nude models was frowned upon. The painting is believed to have been executed during one of Velázquez's visits to Rome, and Prater has observed that in Rome the artist "did indeed lead

4410-599: 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 of a recumbent Venus (which seems to have begun life as

4536-630: The Canary Islands , the Kingdom of Naples , and all Spanish possessions in North America and South America . According to some modern estimates, around 150,000 people were prosecuted for various offences during the three-century duration of the Spanish Inquisition, of whom between 3,000 and 5,000 were executed, approximately 2.7 percent of all cases. The Inquisition, however, since the creation of

4662-514: The Fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, there followed almost seven centuries in which persecutions for heresy became very rare. Some of the old heresies survived, but in a weakened state, and they tended not to operate openly. No new schisms appeared to emerge during this period. The Episcopal Inquisition was created through the papal bull Ad Abolendam ("To abolish") at

4788-476: The Florentine School , with whom the kings were known to have contact ( Guicciardini , Pico della Mirandola , Machiavelli , Segni, Pitti, Nardi, Varchi, etc.) Both Guicciardini and Machiavelli defended the importance of centralization and unification to create a strong state capable of repelling foreign invasions and also warned of the dangers of excessive social uniformity to the creativity and innovation of

4914-581: The Middle Ages . In the Kingdom of Aragon , a tribunal of the Papal Inquisition was established by the statute of Excommunicamus et anathematisamus of Pope Gregory IX , in 1231, during the era of the Albigensian heresy, as a condition for peace with Aragon. The Inquisition was ill-received by the Aragonese, which led to prohibitions against insults or attacks on it. Rome was particularly concerned that

5040-519: The Santa Hermandad (the “Holy Brotherhood”, ancestor to the Guardia Civil , a law enforcement body answering to the crown that prosecuted thieves and criminals across counties in a way local county authorities could not), an institution that would guarantee uniform prosecution of crimes against royal laws across all local jurisdictions. The unusual authority wielded by the king over the nobility in

5166-604: The conversos . Torquemada eventually assumed the title of Inquisitor-General Ferdinand II of Aragon pressured Pope Sixtus IV to agree to an Inquisition controlled by the monarchy by threatening to withdraw military support when the Turks were a threat to Rome. The pope issued a bull to stop the Inquisition but was pressured into withdrawing it. On 1 November 1478, Sixtus published the Papal bull , Exigit Sincerae Devotionis Affectus ( Sincere Devotion Is Required ), through which he gave

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5292-499: The 1st day of the lunar month Tammuz (June). From there, the violence spread to Córdoba , and by the 17th day of the same lunar month, it had reached Toledo (called then by Jews after its Arabic name "Ṭulayṭulah") in the region of Castile . Then the violence spread to Mallorca , and by the 1st day of the lunar month Elul , it had also reached the Jews of Barcelona in Catalonia , where

5418-562: The American courts, has never had jurisdiction over the indigenous. The King of Spain ordered "that the inquisitors should never proceed against the Indians, but against the old Christians and their descendants and other persons against whom in these kingdoms of Spain it is customary to proceed". The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to identify heretics among those who converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism. The regulation of

5544-467: The Church; any authority who failed in this duty was to be excommunicated, removed from office, and stripped of all legal rights. Commercial boycotts would be imposed on cities that supported heretics and declined to participate. It was the start of a centralization process in the fight against heresy. There were a large number of tribunals of the Papal Inquisition in various European kingdoms during

5670-590: The European Jews applied to Spaniards in most European courts, and the idea of them being “greedy, gold-thirsty, cruel and violent” because of the “Jewish and Moorish blood” was prevalent in Europe prior to the discovery of America. Chronicles by foreign travelers circulated through Europe, describing the tolerant ambiance reigning in the court of Isabella and Ferdinand and how Moors and Jews were free to go about without risk of forced conversion. Past and common clashes between

5796-451: The Fund thereafter. In part because he was overlooked until the mid-19th century, Velázquez found no followers and was not widely imitated. In particular, his visual and structural innovations in this portrayal of Venus were not developed by other artists until recently, largely owing to the censorship of the work. The painting remained in a series of private rooms in private collections until it

5922-477: The Iberian Peninsula's large Muslim and Jewish population would have a 'heretical' influence on Catholic citizens. Rome pressed the kingdoms to accept the Papal Inquisition after Aragon. Navarra conceded in the 13th century and Portugal by the end of the 14th, though its 'Roman Inquisition' was famously inactive. Castile refused steadily, trusting in its prominent position in Europe and its military power to keep

6048-464: The Iberian reputation of being too tolerant was a problem. Despite the prestige earned through the reconquest ( Reconquista ), the foreign image of Spaniards coexisted with an almost universal image of heretics and “bad Christians” due to the long coexistence between the three religions they had accepted in their lands. Anti-Jewish stereotypes created to justify or prompt the expulsion and expropriation of

6174-501: The Jews in Spain, during which an estimated 200,000 Jews changed their religion or else concealed their religion, becoming known in Hebrew as Anusim , meaning "those who are compelled [to hide their religion]." Only a handful of the more principal persons of the Jewish community, those who had found refuge among the viceroys in the outlying towns and districts, managed to escape. Forced baptism

6300-616: The King, tended to keep nudes, many mythological, in relatively private rooms; in Phillip's case "the room where His Majesty retires after eating", which contained the Titian poesies he had inherited from Phillip II , and the Rubens he had commissioned himself. The Venus would be in such a room while in the collections of both Haro and Godoy. The court of Philip IV greatly "appreciated painting in general, and

6426-569: The Kingdom of Castile contributed to the kingdom’s prosperity in Europe. This strong control kept the kingdom politically stable and prevented in-fighting that weakened other countries like England. Under the Trastámara dynasty , both kings of Castile and Aragon had lost power to the great nobles, who now formed dissenting and conspiratorial factions. Taxation and varying privileges differed from county to county, and powerful noble families constantly extorted

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6552-462: The Madrid art dealer and painter Domingo Guerra Coronel, and was sold to Haro in 1652 following Coronel's death the previous year. Coronel's ownership of the painting raises the questions of how and when it came into Coronel's possession, and why Velázquez's name was omitted from Coronel's inventory. The art critic Javier Portús has suggested that the omission may have been due to the painting's portrayal of

6678-499: The National Gallery and attacked Velázquez's canvas with a meat cleaver. Her action was ostensibly provoked by the arrest of fellow suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst the previous day, although there had been earlier warnings of a planned suffragette attack on the collection. Richardson left seven slashes on the painting, particularly causing damage to the area between the figure's shoulders. However, all were successfully repaired by

6804-526: The National Gallery's chief restorer Helmut Ruhemann . Richardson was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, the maximum allowed for destruction of an artwork. In a statement to the Women's Social and Political Union shortly afterwards, Richardson explained, "I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the Government for destroying Mrs. Pankhurst, who

6930-512: The Ottomans had internal help. The regions with the highest concentration of Moriscos were those close to the common naval crossings between Spain and Africa. The weakness of the Aragonese Naval Empire combined with the resentment of the higher nobility against the monarchs, the dynastic claims of Portugal on Castile , and the two monarchs’ exterior politics that turned away from Morocco and other African nations in favor of Europe, created

7056-568: The Pope and the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula regarding the Inquisition in Castile’s case and regarding South Italy in Aragon’s case also reinforced their image of heretics in the international courts. These accusations and images could have had direct political and military consequences, especially considering that the union of two powerful kingdoms was a delicate moment that could prompt fear and violent reactions from neighbors, more so if combined with

7182-409: The Pope's behalf, presumably) without the Pope's intervention. The Inquisition was, despite its title of "Holy", not necessarily formed by the clergy, and secular lawyers were equally welcome to it. If it was an attempt at keeping Rome out of Spain, it was an extremely successful and refined one. It was a bureaucratic body that had the nominal authority of the church and permission to prosecute members of

7308-405: The Pope's interventionism in check. England and Castile were the only Western European kingdoms that withstood the establishment of the Inquisition in their realms by the end of the Middle Ages. England’s success was because of its distance and the voluntary compliance of its people, while Castile, which would later become part of Spain, resisted because of its people’s resistance and the power of

7434-672: The adherents of other cults — pagans, Jews, and heretics. Though only in the fourth century of its existence, Christianity had spread widely and was already beginning to experience a multiplicity of schisms within itself. Among the most significant of the heresies at this time were Arianism , Manichaeism , Gnosticism , the Adamites , the Donatists , the Pelagians , and Priscillianists . The Edict of Thessalonica issued on 27 February 380 by Emperor Theodosius I established Nicene Christianity as

7560-418: The art historian Andreas Prater, "a highly independent visual concept that has many precursors, but no direct model; scholars have sought them in vain". Forerunners include Titian's various depictions of Venus, such as Venus and Cupid with a Partridge , Venus and Cupid with an Organist and notably the Venus of Urbino ; Palma il Vecchio 's Reclining Nude ; and Giorgione's Sleeping Venus , all of which show

7686-549: 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 connoisseurs steal

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7812-533: The book A History of the Jewish People , In 1482 the pope was still trying to maintain control over the Inquisition and to gain acceptance for his own attitude towards the New Christians which was generally more moderate than that of the Inquisition and the local rulers. In 1483, Jews were expelled from all of Andalusia . Though the pope wanted to crack down on abuses, Ferdinand pressured him to promulgate

7938-538: The bull Exigit sincerae devotionis affectus , permitting the monarchs to select and appoint two or three priests over forty years of age to act as inquisitors. In 1483, Ferdinand and Isabella established a state council to administer the inquisition with the Dominican Friar Tomás de Torquemada acting as its president, even though Sixtus IV protested the activities of the inquisition in Aragon and its treatment of

8064-461: The bull of creation was granted, the head of the Inquisition was the Monarch of Spain. It was in charge of enforcing the laws of the king regarding religion and other private-life matters, not of following orders from Rome, from which it was independent. This independence allowed the Inquisition to investigate, prosecute, and convict clergy for both corruption and treason of conspiracy against the crown (on

8190-512: The church, which the kings could not do, while answering only to the Spanish Crown. This did not prevent the Pope from having some influence on the decisions of Spanish monarchs, but it did force the influence to be through the kings, making direct influence very difficult. Other hypotheses that circulate regarding the Spanish Inquisition's creation include: Fray Alonso de Ojeda, a Dominican friar from Seville, convinced Queen Isabella of

8316-544: The cousin of the duchess. Eve wants to go straight, but Victor blackmails her and Jim, demanding that they steal a renowned painting ( The Second of May 1808 ) by Francisco de Goya from the Prado Museum in Madrid . An exact copy of the painting is created by artist Jean Marie Calbert ( Joseph Wiseman ), and a switch is planned to take place during the farewell bullfight of a famous matador , Cayetano ( Virgílio Teixeira ), whom

8442-459: The creation of the Spanish Inquisition may have been a way to concede to the Pope's demands and criticism regarding Spain's mixed religious heritage, while simultaneously ensuring that the Pope could hardly force the second Inquisition of his own and create a tool to control the power of the Roman Church in Spain. The Spanish Inquisition was unique at the time because it was not led by the Pope. Once

8568-519: The deity reclining on luxurious textiles, although in landscape settings in the latter two works. The use of a centrally placed mirror was inspired by the painters of the Italian High Renaissance, including Titian, Girolamo Savoldo and Lorenzo Lotto , who used mirrors as an active protagonist, as opposed to more than merely a prop or accessory in the pictorial space. Both Titian and Peter Paul Rubens had already painted Venus looking into

8694-430: The depiction of sibyls , nymphs, and goddesses, the female form was always chastely covered. No painting from the 1630s or 1640s, whether in the genre , portrait, or history format, shows a Spanish female with her breasts exposed; even uncovered arms were only rarely shown. In 1997, the art historian Peter Cherry suggested that Velázquez sought to overcome the contemporary requirement for modesty by portraying Venus from

8820-474: The duchess intends to wed. During the bullfight, Victor secretly shoots Cayetano in order to create a diversion that will assist the art theft. News of the matador's death spreads quickly across the city and distracts the guards at the Prado Museum, allowing Jim and Jean to begin switching the two large paintings. Jean suddenly leaves the room before they are finished, but Eve arrives in time to help Jim complete

8946-443: The ecclesiastical hierarchy, at times becoming severe detractors of Judaism. Some even received titles of nobility and, as a result, during the following century, some works attempted to demonstrate many nobles of Spain descended from Israelites. According to this hypothesis, the Inquisition was created to standardize various laws and the numerous jurisdictions Spain was divided into. It would be an administrative program analogous to

9072-402: The effect of this simple colour scheme has been much praised, recent technical analysis has shown that the grey sheet was originally a "deep mauve", that has now faded. The luminescent colours used in Venus's skin, applied with "smooth, creamy, blended handling", contrast with the dark greys and black of the silk she is lying on, and with the brown of the wall behind her face. The Rokeby Venus

9198-528: The eighth Marchioness of Carpio, and her husband, Francisco Álvarez de Toledo, the tenth Duke of Alba . In 1802, Charles IV of Spain ordered the family to sell the painting (with other works) to Manuel de Godoy , his favourite and chief minister. He hung it alongside two masterpieces by Francisco Goya that he may have commissioned himself, The Nude Maja and The Clothed Maja . These bear obvious compositional similarities with Velázquez's Venus , although unlike Velázquez, Goya clearly painted his nude in

9324-759: The end of the Reconquista and aimed to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and replace the Medieval Inquisition , which was under papal control. Along with the Roman Inquisition and the Portuguese Inquisition , it became the most substantive of the three different manifestations of the wider Catholic Inquisition . The "Spanish Inquisition" may be defined broadly as operating in Spain and in all Spanish colonies and territories, which included

9450-489: The end of the 12th century by Pope Lucius III , with the support of emperor Frederick I , to combat the Albigensian heresy in southern France. Heretics were to be handed over to secular authorities for punishment, have their property seized, and face excommunication. Holders of public office, counts, barons, and rectors in cities and other places were required to take responsibility for punishing heretics handed over to them by

9576-446: The enforcement of Catholicism across the realm might indeed be the result of simple religious devotion by the monarchs. (see § purely religious reasons ) The recent scholarship on the expulsion of the Jews leans towards the belief of religious motivations being at the bottom of it. However, considering the reports on Ferdinand’s political persona, that is unlikely the only reason. Machiavelli, among others, described Ferdinand as

9702-560: The existence of Crypto-Judaism among Andalusian conversos during her stay in Seville between 1477 and 1478. A report, produced by Pedro González de Mendoza , Archbishop of Seville, and by the Segovian Dominican Tomás de Torquemada —of converso family himself—corroborated this assertion. Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella requested a papal bull to establish an inquisition in Spain in 1478. Pope Sixtus IV granted

9828-537: The expansion of the Ottoman Turks on the Mediterranean. The creation of the Inquisition and the expulsion of both Jews and Moriscos may have been part of a strategy to whitewash the image of Spain and ease international fears regarding Spain's allegiance. In this scenario, the creation of the Inquisition could have been part of the Catholic Monarchs' strategy to "turn" away from African allies and "towards" Europe,

9954-408: The faith of newly converted Catholics was intensified following royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1502 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert to Catholicism or leave Castile , or face death, resulting in hundreds of thousands of forced conversions , torture and executions, the persecution of conversos and moriscos , and the mass expulsions of Jews and Muslims from Spain . The Inquisition

10080-472: The family might secretly be honoring the Sabbath), the buying of many vegetables before Passover, or the purchase of meat from a converted butcher. The court could employ physical torture to extract confessions . Crypto-Jews were allowed to confess and do penance, although those who relapsed were executed. In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII attempted to allow appeals to Rome against the Inquisition, which would weaken

10206-651: The function of the institution as protection against the pope, but Ferdinand in December 1484 and again in 1509 decreed death and confiscation for anyone making use of such procedures without royal permission. With this, the Inquisition became the only institution that held authority across all the realms of the Spanish monarchy and, in all of them, a useful mechanism at the service of the crown. The cities of Aragón continued resisting and even saw revolt, as in Teruel , from 1484 to 1485. The murder of Inquisidor Pedro Arbués (later made

10332-426: The government and the Church. Among many others, physicians Andrés Laguna and Francisco López de Villalobos (Ferdinand's court physician), writers Juan del Encina , Juan de Mena , Diego de Valera , and Alonso de Palencia, and bankers Luis de Santángel and Gabriel Sánchez (who financed the voyage of Christopher Columbus ) were all conversos . Conversos —not without opposition—managed to attain high positions in

10458-469: The importance of a vassal sharing the religion of their lord. The Inquisition may have just been the result of putting these ideas into practice. The use of religion as a unifying factor across a land that was allowed to stay diverse and maintain different laws in other respects, and the creation of the Inquisition to enforce laws across it, maintain said religious unity, and control the local elites were consistent with most of those teachings. Alternatively,

10584-425: The incident reveal that the picture was not widely seen as mere artwork. Journalists tended to assess the attack in terms of a murder (Richardson was nicknamed "Slasher Mary"), and used words that conjured wounds inflicted on an actual female body, rather than on a pictorial representation of a female body. The Times described a "cruel wound in the neck", as well as incisions to the shoulders and back. The painting

10710-476: The instructions of the office of the Holy Inquisition) , essentially unaltered for more than three centuries following Torquemada's death. A new court would be announced with a thirty-day grace period for self-confessions and denunciations, and the gathering of accusations by neighbors and acquaintances. Evidence that was used to identify a crypto-Jew included the absence of chimney smoke on Saturdays (a sign

10836-584: The kingdom. Within the context of medieval Europe, there are several hypotheses of what prompted the creation of the tribunal after centuries of tolerance . The Spanish Inquisition is interpretable as a response to the multi-religious nature of Spanish society following the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim Moors . The Reconquista did not result in the total expulsion of Muslims from Spain since they, along with Jews, were tolerated by

10962-408: The kings to attain further concessions, particularly in Aragon. The main goals of the reign of the Catholic Monarchs were to unite their two kingdoms and strengthen royal influence to guarantee stability. In pursuit of this, they sought to unify the laws of their realms further and reduce the power of the nobility in certain local areas. They attained this partially by raw military strength by creating

11088-646: The late 13th century and into the 14th century. England and France expelled their Jewish populations in 1290 and 1306 , respectively. During the Reconquista , Spain's anti-Jewish sentiment steadily increased. This prejudice climaxed in the summer of 1391 when violent anti-Jewish riots broke out in Spanish cities like Barcelona . To linguistically distinguish them from non-converted or long-established Catholic families, new converts were called conversos , or New Catholics. According to Don Hasdai Crescas , persecution against Jews began in earnest in Seville in 1391, on

11214-523: The mirror, and that it was used to blindfold Venus moments before. The critic Julián Gallego found Cupid's facial expression to be so melancholy that he interprets the ribbons as fetters binding the god to the image of Beauty, and gave the painting the title "Amor conquered by Beauty". The folds of the bed sheets echo the goddess's physical form, and are rendered to emphasise the sweeping curves of her body. The composition mainly uses shades of red, white, and grey, which are used even in Venus's skin; although

11340-667: The monarchs exclusive authority to name the inquisitors in their kingdoms. The first two inquisitors, Miguel de Morillo and Juan de San Martín were not named until two years later, on 27 September 1480, in Medina del Campo . The first auto de fé was held in Seville on 6 February 1481: six people were burned alive. From there, the Inquisition grew rapidly in the Kingdom of Castile . By 1492, tribunals existed in eight Castilian cities: Ávila , Córdoba , Jaén , Medina del Campo , Segovia , Sigüenza , Toledo , and Valladolid . Sixtus IV promulgated

11466-793: The mutilation by the French royal family of the Correggio depiction of Leda and the Swan and their apparent destruction of the famous Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo paintings of the same subject, show that nudity could be controversial in France also. In northern Europe it was seen as acceptable to portray artfully draped nudes. Examples include Rubens's Minerva Victrix , of 1622–1625, which shows Marie de' Medici with an uncovered breast, and Anthony van Dyck 's 1620 painting, The Duke and Duchess of Buckingham as Venus and Adonis . In 17th-century Spanish art, even in

11592-429: The nobility and high clergy among those investigated by the Inquisition supported this hypothesis, as well as the many administrative and civil crimes the Inquisition oversaw. The Inquisition prosecuted the counterfeiting of royal seals and currency, ensured the effective transmission of the orders of the kings, and verified the authenticity of official documents traveling through the kingdoms, especially from one kingdom to

11718-491: The nobility and local interests of either kingdom. According to this view, the prosecution of heretics would be secondary, or simply not considered different, from the prosecution of conspirators, traitors, or groups of any kind who planned to resist royal authority. Royal authority rested on the divine right and oaths of loyalty held before God, so the connection between religious deviation and political disloyalty would appear obvious. The disproportionately high representation of

11844-417: The nude in particular, but ... at the same time, exerted unparalleled pressure on artists to avoid the depiction of the naked human body." The contemporary Spanish attitude toward paintings of nudes was unique in Europe. Although such works were appreciated by some connoisseurs and intellectuals within Spain, they were generally treated with suspicion. Low necklines were commonly worn by women during

11970-648: The number of trials and executions in this period; some estimate about 2,000 executions, based on the documentation of the autos de fé , the great majority being conversos of Jewish origin. He offers striking statistics: 91.6% of those judged in Valencia between 1484 and 1530, and 99.3% of those judged in Barcelona between 1484 and 1505 were of Jewish origin. The Inquisition had jurisdiction only over Christians. It had no power to investigate, prosecute, or convict Jews, Muslims, or any open member of other religions. Anyone who

12096-581: The observer of the painting. The Rokeby Venus is the only surviving female nude by Velázquez. Nudes were extremely rare in seventeenth-century Spanish art, which was policed actively by members of the Spanish Inquisition . Despite this, nudes by foreign artists were keenly collected by the court circle, and this painting was hung in the houses of Spanish courtiers until 1813, when it was brought to England to hang in Rokeby Park , Yorkshire . In 1906,

12222-412: The only one with enough popular support that the nobility could not easily attack it. Through the Spanish Inquisition, Isabella and Ferdinand created a personal police force and personal code of law that rested above the structure of their respective realms without altering or mixing them and could operate freely in both. As the Inquisition had the backing of both kingdoms, it would exist independent of both

12348-462: The opinions of such theologians as John of St. Thomas , Pedro Tapia , and Gaspar Hurtado was an anonymous essay, later attributed to the Portuguese Francisco de Braganza. The court was able to exert counter-pressure, and a piece by the famous poet and preacher Fray Hortensio Félix Paravicino , which proposed the destruction of all paintings of the nude, and was written to be included in

12474-460: The other. At a time in which most of Europe had already expelled the Jews from the Christian kingdoms , the "dirty blood" of Spaniards was met with open suspicion and contempt. As the world became smaller and foreign relations became more relevant to stay in power, this foreign image of "being the seed of Jews and Moors" may have become a problem. In addition, the coup that allowed Isabella to take

12600-407: The painting process, the result of the artist's corrections to the contours as initially painted. Pentimenti can be seen in Venus's upraised arm, in the position of her left shoulder, and on her head. Infra-red reveals that she was originally shown more upright with her head turned to the left. An area on the left of the painting, extending from Venus's left foot to the left leg and foot of Cupid,

12726-498: The painting was purchased by National Art Collections Fund for the National Gallery, London. Although it was attacked and badly damaged in 1914 by Canadian suffragette Mary Richardson , it soon was fully restored and returned to display. It was attacked again and its protective glass smashed by Just Stop Oil in 2023. The Rokeby Venus depicts the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility reclining languidly on her bed, her back to

12852-450: The pamphlet, was never published. Paravicino was a connoisseur of painting, and therefore believed in its power: "the finest paintings are the greatest threat: burn the best of them". As his title shows, Braganza merely argued that such works should be kept from the view of a wider public, as was in fact mostly the practice in Spain. In contrast, French art of the period often depicted women with low necklines and slender corsets; however,

12978-543: The period, but according to the art historian Zahira Veliz, "the codes of pictorial decorum would not easily permit a known lady to be painted in this way". For Spaniards of the 17th century, the issue of the nude in art was tied up with concepts of morality, power, and aesthetics. This attitude is reflected in the literature of the Spanish Golden Age , in works such as Lope de Vega 's play La quinta de Florencia , which features an aristocrat who commits rape after viewing

13104-453: The power of both kingdoms without uniting them in life was to find or create an executive, legislative, and judicial arm directly under the Crown empowered to act in both kingdoms. This goal, the hypothesis goes, might have given birth to the Spanish Inquisition. The religious organization capable of overseeing this role was obvious. Catholicism was the only institution common to both kingdoms and

13230-423: The presence of her son, Cupid. Venus gazes into a mirror held by Cupid, who is without his usual bow and arrows. When the work was first inventoried, it was described as "a nude woman", probably owing to its controversial nature. Venus looks outward at the viewer of the painting through her reflected image in the mirror. However, the image is blurred and reveals only a vague reflection of her facial characteristics;

13356-431: The reflected image of the head is much larger than it would be in reality. The critic Natasha Wallace has suggested that Venus's indistinct face may be the key to the underlying meaning of the painting, in that "it is not intended as a specific female nude, nor even as a portrayal of Venus, but as an image of self-absorbed beauty." According to Wallace, "There is nothing spiritual about face or picture. The classical setting

13482-590: The ruling Catholics, Jews, and Muslims. As historian Henry Kamen notes, the "so-called convivencia was always a relationship between unequals." Despite their legal inequality, there was a long tradition of Jewish service to the Crown of Aragon, and Jews occupied many important posts, both religious and political. Castile itself had an unofficial rabbi . Ferdinand's father, John II , named the Jewish Abiathar Crescas Court Astronomer . Antisemitic attitudes increased throughout Europe during

13608-496: The ruling Christian elite. Large cities, especially Seville , Valladolid , and Barcelona , had significant Jewish populations centered on Juderia , but in the coming years, the Muslims became increasingly alienated and relegated from power centers. Cultural historian Américo Castro has characterized post-reconquest medieval Spain as a society of relatively peaceful co-existence ( convivencia ) punctuated by occasional conflict among

13734-442: The secular arm to be executed, to the peril of souls, setting a pernicious example, and causing disgust to many. Outraged, Ferdinand feigned doubt about the bull's veracity, arguing that no sensible pope would have published such a document. He wrote the pope on May 13, 1482, saying: "Take care therefore not to let the matter go further, and to revoke any concessions and entrust us with the care of this question." According to

13860-423: The slain was approximately two-hundred and fifty. Indeed, many Jews who resided in the neighboring provinces of Lleida and Gironda and the kingdom of Valencia had also been affected, as were the Jews of Al-Andalus (Andalucía). While many died a martyr's death, others converted to save themselves. Encouraged by the preaching of Ferrand Martínez , Archdeacon of Ecija , the general unrest affected nearly all

13986-520: The state church of the Roman Empire. It condemned other Christian creeds as heresies of "foolish madmen" and approved their punishment. In 438, under Emperor Theodosius II , the Codex Theodosianus (Theodosian Code), a compilation of laws of the Roman Empire, already provided for the confiscation of property and the death penalty for heretics. The Spanish ascetic and theologian Priscillian

14112-439: The switch before the guards return. Later, Jean turns up and goes with Jim to the house of Victor, where they find him dead. They are then framed for this murder by the duchess, who had killed Victor to avenge the death of Cayetano. Using the stolen Goya painting as a bargaining chip, Jim negotiates with the authorities, and he secures freedom for Jean and a reduced prison sentence for himself. Eve vows to wait for him. The film

14238-489: The throne from Joanna of Castile ("la Beltraneja") and the Catholic Monarchs to marry had estranged Castile from Portugal, its historical ally, and created the need for new relationships. Similarly, Aragon's ambitions lay in control of the Mediterranean and the defense against France. As their policy of royal marriages proved, the Catholic Monarchs were deeply concerned about France's growing power and expected to create strong dynastic alliances across Europe. In this scenario,

14364-497: The viewer—in Antiquity , portrayal of Venus from a back view was a common visual and literary erotic motif —and her knees tucked. She is shown without the mythological paraphernalia normally included in depictions of the scene; jewellery, roses, and myrtle are all absent. Unlike most earlier portrayals of the goddess, which show her with blonde hair, Velázquez's Venus is a brunette. The female figure can be identified as Venus because of

14490-439: Was "The Mirror's Venus" Spanish : La Venus del espejo ) is a painting by Diego Velázquez , the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age . Completed between 1647 and 1651, and probably painted during the artist's visit to Italy, the work depicts the goddess Venus in a sensual pose, lying on a bed with her back facing the viewer, and looking into a mirror held by the Roman god of physical love, her son Cupid . The painting

14616-400: Was abolished in 1834, during the reign of Isabella II , after a period of declining influence in the preceding century. The Roman Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 312. Having been severely persecuted under previous emperors, the new religion now felt capable of commencing its program of persecution. From the moment it was recognised and empowered, there were persecutions against

14742-652: Was attacked again on 6 November 2023 by two Just Stop Oil activists who smashed its protective glass with hammers demanding an end to new oil and gas licences in the UK. Spanish Inquisition God Schools Relations with: The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( Spanish : Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición ) was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs , King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile . It began toward

14868-461: Was bound to generate frictions with the Ottoman Empire and other African nations. Therefore, the Inquisition would have been created as a permanent body to prevent the existence of citizens with religious sympathies with African nations now that rivalry with them had been deemed unavoidable. The creation of the Spanish Inquisition was consistent with the most important political philosophers of

14994-415: Was contrary to the law of the Catholic Church and, theoretically, anybody who had been forcibly baptized could legally return to Judaism. Legal definitions of the time theoretically acknowledged that a forced baptism was not a valid sacrament but confined this to cases where it was administered by physical force: a person who had consented to baptism under threat of death or serious injury was still regarded as

15120-401: Was excommunicated in 380 after being accused of magic and libertinage. In response to the instigation of two Christian bishops, Emperor Magnus Maximus condemned Priscillian and his companions to death, though prominent figures such as Saint Martin of Tours and Saint Ambrose challenged this verdict. Priscillian has been described as the first martyr killed by a Spanish Inquisition. After

15246-580: Was exhibited in 1857 at the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition , along with 25 other paintings at least claimed to be by Velázquez; it was here that it became known as the Rokeby Venus . It does not appear to have been copied by other artists, engraved or otherwise reproduced, until this period. In 1890 it was exhibited in the Royal Academy in London, and in 1905 at Messrs. Agnews, the dealers who had bought it from Morritt. From 1906 it

15372-400: Was highly visible in the National Gallery and became well-known globally through reproductions. The general influence of the painting was therefore long delayed, although individual artists would have been able to see it on occasion throughout its history. The painting was not universally accepted as Velázquez's work on its reintroduction to the public. The artist William Blake Richmond , in

15498-635: Was known to identify as either Jew or Muslim was outside of Inquisitorial jurisdiction and could be tried only by the King. All the Inquisition could do in some of those cases was to deport the individual according to the King's law, but usually, even that had to go through a civil tribunal. The Inquisition had the authority to try only those who self-identified as Christians (initially for taxation purposes, later to avoid deportation as well) while practicing another religion de facto. Even those were treated as Christians. If they confessed or identified not as judaizantes but as fully practicing Jews, they fell back into

15624-469: Was produced by Hayworth's production company, Hillworth Productions A.G., and distributed by United Artists . The film's executive producer was Hayworth's then-husband, James Hill . During a test bullfight, a melody based on " Gernikako Arbola " can be heard. Rokeby Venus The Rokeby Venus ( / ˈ r oʊ k b i / ROHK -bee ; also known as The Toilet of Venus , Venus at her Mirror , Venus and Cupid ; Whose original title

15750-494: Was purchased by John Morritt for £500 (£41,000 in 2024), and on the advice of his friend Sir Thomas Lawrence . Morritt hung it in his house at Rokeby Park , Yorkshire—thus the painting's popular name. In 1906, the painting was acquired for the National Gallery by the newly created National Art Collections Fund , its first campaigning triumph. King Edward VII greatly admired the painting, anonymously provided £8,000 (£1,090,000 in 2024) towards its purchase, and became patron of

15876-458: Was rejected by Castile but accepted by Aragon and Portugal). In the past, the papacy had tried and partially succeeded in forcing the Mozarabic Rite out of Iberia. Its intervention had been pivotal for Aragon's loss of Rosellon . The meddling regarding Aragon's control over South Italy was even stronger historically. In their lifetime, the Catholic Monarchs had problems with Pope Paul II ,

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