Academic Study of a Male Nude as a Standard Bearer
William Etty RA (York 1787 – York 1849)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
circa 1843 - 1849 (exh)
Materials
Oil on millboard
Measurements
425 x 337 mm (16 ¾ x 13 ¼ in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 515508
Caption
Etty not only painted female nudes, but also male studies from male models. Lord Fairhaven owned a second standard bearer study and there is a third in the York City Art Gallery. Etty does not seem to have worked up any of these sketches into a finished painting. William Etty was a very unusual Victorian artist in dedicating himself almost exclusively to the depiction of the nude, which he painted in a glowing and sensual manner, reminiscent of Titian and Rubens. From his faithful studies undertaken at the Academy Life School, Etty produced many mythological and religious scenes, which he constantly subjected to the requirements of ideal art.
Summary
Oil painting on millboard, Academic Study of a Male Nude as a Standard Bearer by William Etty RA (York 1787 – York 1849), circa 1843/49. A three-quarter length male nude figure facing, but head turned slightly to the right, his left arm by his side, his right arm holding a pole from which a red banner is hanging occupying the space between his hand and his head, falling by his left side and serving as a modesty covering. Etty not only painted female nudes, but also male studies from male models. Lord Fairhaven owned a second standard bearer study and there is a third, dressed in armour and reveresed and a direct copy from Titian's Pasaro altarpiece in Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice, in the York City Art Gallery. This version is a pictorial striptease of the latter but Etty does not seem to have worked up any of these sketches into a finished painting.
Provenance
Possibly Charles Hawker; possibly John Miller of Liverpool sale, Christie’s, 21 May 1858, lot 123 – bought by J. H. Mann for 5 gns. James Orrock (1829 - 1913); F. E. Sidney, by 1907; F.E.Stanley sale, Christie’s, 10 Dec 1937, lot 41 bought by Leggatt for 16 gns; Date of acquisition by Lord Fairhaven is unknown; bequeathed to the National Trust by Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966) with the house and the rest of the contents.
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, The Fairhaven Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
William Etty RA (York 1787 – York 1849), publisher
Exhibition history
William Etty: Art and Controversy, York Art Gallery, York, 2011 - 2012
References
Farr 1958 Dennis Farr, William Etty, London, 1958, 130