WILLIAM ETTY. 
87 
competed for the medal at the school of painting, and 
distanced all competitors by his copy of Titian’s Ganymede, but 
for some alleged infringement of the rules it was disqualified, 
though the Academy paid him great compliments on his work. 
Soon after this first triumph Etty’s father died, leaving 
property to the amount of about £goo to his widow. 
The first picture of Etty’s which gained any notice from the 
critics was a small finished sketch of Pandora, formed by 
Vulcan, and crowned by the Seasons (the finished picture 4ft. by 
4ft. gin. w r as exhibited in 1824, anc ^ * s now * n C ie Corporation 
Art Gallery at Birmingham). The sketch was exhibited at 
the British Institution, and followed in the same year, 1820, 
at the Royal Academy by the first free expression of his 
original genius, the Coral Finders, Venus and her youthful 
satellites arriving at the Isle of Paphos, described as a most 
poetic achievement. It sold at once for £30. After the 
painter's death it was sold at Christie’s for £37o. At that 
time Etty was living in Surrey Street, Strand, but removed 
soon after to No. 16, Stangate Walk, Westminster Bridge, 
still near the river, and there he remained five years. 
The year 1821 saw the completion of the “Cleopatra,” of 
which Leslie speaks as that “ splendid composition ” which 
w 7 as the revelation of Etty’s true genius. It was a most 
ambitious picture, an attempt to pourtray on canvass the 
glowing words of Plutarch on “ Cleopatra’s Arrrival in Cilicia." 
“ She sailed along the river Cydnus in a magnificent galley. 
The stern was covered with gold. The sails were of purple, 
and the oars of silver. These in their motion kept time to the 
music of flutes and pipes and harps. The Queen, in the dress 
and character of Venus, lay under a canopy embroidered with 
gold ; while boys, like painted Cupids, stood fanning her, on 
each side of the sofa. Her maids, habited like the Nereides 
and the Graces, assisted in the steerage and conduct of the 
vessel. The fragrance of incense, vast quantities of which 
were burnt on the deck, was diffused along the shores, which 
were covered with multitudes of people.” 
The picture was bought by Sir Francis Freeling, it is said 
for £200, but there is reason to believe the actual payment was 
less. After the death of the painter £1,000 was paid for it by 
