 Notwithstanding his unhappiness , Etty appears to have developed as a painter during his travels . For the first time , his two paintings exhibited at the 1817 Summer Exhibition ( <unk> : a Sketch and Cupid and Euphrosyne ) attracted a favourable review in the press , in this case from William Paulet Carey writing in the Literary Gazette who considered <unk> " a fine classical invention " and Cupid as showing " splendid promise " . Carey was later to take great pride in being the first critic to recognise Etty 's potential , and continued to champion him throughout his career . In 1818 Etty entered a copy of Damiano Mazza 's The Rape of Ganymede — at the time thought to be by Titian — in one of the Royal Academy 's painting competitions . Easily the most accomplished entry in the competition , Etty was due to win until two of the other contestants complained that he had technically breached RA rules by briefly removing the painting from Academy premises to work on it at home ; they further complained that Etty was technically a professional artist and thus ineligible for the contest despite his still being a student . Etty was disqualified from the competition , but the high quality of his work further raised his prestige within the Academy . Although his income was still low and he was surviving on gifts from his brother , at some point by 1818 Etty hired an assistant , George Henry Franklin . 
