 In February 1828 , shortly before his 41st birthday , Etty soundly defeated John Constable by 18 votes to five to become a full Royal Academician , at the time the highest honour available to an artist . By this time , complaints about his supposed indecency were beginning to resurface . All but one of the 15 paintings Etty exhibited at the Royal Academy in the 1820s had included at least one nude figure , and Etty was acquiring a reputation for using respectable themes as a pretext for nudity . 
