 Etty 's Cleopatra 's Arrival in Cilicia , painted in 1821 , featured numerous nudes and was exhibited to great acclaim . Its success prompted several further depictions of historical scenes with nudes . All but one of the works he exhibited at the Royal Academy in the 1820s contained at least one nude figure , and he acquired a reputation for indecency . Despite this , he was commercially successful and critically acclaimed , and in 1828 was elected a Royal Academician , at the time the highest honour available to an artist . Although he was one of the most respected artists in the country he continued to study at life classes throughout his life , a practice considered inappropriate by his fellow artists . In the 1830s Etty began to branch out into the more lucrative but less respected field of portraiture , and later became the first English painter to paint significant still lifes . He continued to paint both male and female nudes , which caused severe criticism and condemnation from some elements of the press . 
