History lesson coming up:
William Etty was a York-born (English) artist, who was instrumental in saving our medieval city walls. My city is Roman in origin, the frontier of the Empire, Eboracum, occupied later by Saxons, then Scandinavian settlers (Vikings), then expanded by medieval occupation. It was home to the first railways, the Rowntree (kitkat, smarties, etc) and Terry's (chocolate orange) chocolate empires... it is still surrounded by its medieval city walls and gates.
Early in the 19th century our City Fathers decided we didn't need the walls anymore and plans were laid to dismantle them. There was a group of folks who didn't agree, William Etty among them, so legend has it he held an exhibition of his work...namely nudes...and instead of charging people money to see them, he insisted they sign his petition to save the city walls. Whether this is true or not is debatable, but Etty is known for his controversial painting. At the time it offended sensibilities... yeah, right. He was popular for his *talent*, I'm sure. However, exhibition or no, he used his wealth and influence to lean on the council to change its mind, and we still have our walled city today because of his influence.
This painting isn't by him. Its by this guy...
This is Etty's original, but the nudes thing still stands. He drew quite a few.