 In 1838 , Etty started lobbying for the establishment of an art school in York . He proposed that the Hospitium of St Mary 's Abbey be used for this purpose , with the lower floor becoming a museum of sculpture and the upper floor becoming a school and exhibition hall . The Hospitium scheme was abandoned , but the York School of Design duly opened on a different site in 1842 . Although the school was created by an artist who had built his reputation on nudes , nude art remained controversial . In 1847 , following a complaint from a female student about a display of replicas of Ancient Greek sculptures , " the master was requested to have the penis of each of the offending statues cut off [ ... ] a proceeding that called forth the indignation of the male students and the remonstrances of even the lady students " . 
