 Failing to sell at the Summer Exhibition , The Combat was bought from Etty by fellow artist John Martin for 300 guineas ( about £ 22 @,@ 000 in 2016 terms ) , following a promise Martin had made to Etty before the painting was complete . The painting was too large for Martin 's house , and in 1831 he sold it on to the Royal Scottish Academy . It was transferred in 1910 to the nearby National Gallery of Scotland where it remains . One of Etty 's major works , it was exhibited at numerous major exhibitions including the seminal Art Treasures Exhibition of 1857 , before Etty fell out of fashion in the second half of the 19th century . 
