Gallery aims to challenge conversation about masterpiece

The Toilet of Venus (1647-51) is more commonly known as The Rokeby Venus

An exhibition aimed at "challenging the conversation" around a 17th Century masterpiece has opened in Liverpool.

Diego Velazquez’s The Rokeby Venus has been loaned to the city's Walker Art Gallery as part of the National Gallery in London's 200th anniversary celebrations.

A representative for the Liverpool venue said the work had "long been a topic of public conversation and interest" and the new display would "challenge traditional views" by setting it alongside "unexpected artworks".

They said the National Treasures: Velazquez in Liverpool exhibition would "consider new ways of seeing, focusing on the perspectives of women and queer people through a range of works that have rarely been displayed before".

The work has been exhibited alongside artworks by women and non-binary artists

The work by the Spanish old master has had several names, including The Toilet of Venus and The Mirror's Venus, but has become more commonly known by its nickname, which stems from its time hanging on the walls of Rokeby Park, a country house in County Durham.

The work has been the subject of protests twice in the past 100 years - by suffragette Mary Richardson in 1914 and by Just Stop Oil campaigners in 2023.

The Walker's representative said it was Velazquez's only surviving female nude and was now considered an example of the objectification of women in art.

Curators Melissa Gustin and Kate O’Donoghue said challenging the conversation around the "iconic" painting had given them "a chance to spotlight the work of women and non-binary artists in our collection".

"Velazquez acknowledges the woman’s gaze in this painting with Venus herself looking in the mirror," they said.

The work has returned to Liverpool for the first time in almost a century

The gallery said the exhibition around the masterpiece included The Spanish Gesture (1934) by Ethel Walker, a Scottish artist who has been "celebrated as one of the earliest lesbian artists to openly express their sexuality in their paintings" and Puck (1855-1859) by Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, an American sculptor "who actively rejected the norms and social conventions expected of women".

They said a selection of photographs by South African artist Zanele Muholi, named Miss Lesbian VII (Amsterdam) and Miss Lesbian I (Amsterdam) (2009), and Rene Matić's examination of "race, beauty, and gender" Chiddy Doing Rene's Hair (2019) were also being displayed.

The curators said the unveiling also marked the return of the masterpiece to the city after almost a century.

“The Rokeby Venus first came to Liverpool in 1906 before being unveiled at the National Gallery in London, so it’s incredibly exciting to have her back in the city," they said.

"We are delighted to work in partnership with the National Gallery during their anniversary year and are grateful to them for this fantastic loan."

The National Treasures: Velazquez in Liverpool runs until 26 August.