 France was in constitutional crisis in 1830 , which reached a peak in late July as the July Revolution began and riots erupted across Paris . Although moved by the death and destruction taking place around him , Etty felt that the purpose of his visit was to study paintings , and continued to attend the Louvre to copy paintings as the violence raged in the surrounding streets . On 31 July he decided to abandon the trip ; abandoning his proposed onward journey to Brussels and Antwerp , he collected the five copies he had made in the Louvre and set off for London . 
