 In 1836 architect John Harper arranged a small exhibition in York of works by modern artists , which included 11 Etty paintings . This included the first public showing of Venus and her Doves , which had been commissioned by Daniel Grant . Although the exhibition broke even it met with little public interest , and no further Etty retrospectives were held for some years . Harper did take the opportunity to buy Etty 's A Family of the Forest ( also known as Flowers of the Forest ) , which had failed to sell at the 1836 Summer Exhibition . A Family of the Forest illustrates a passage from the Ancient Greek poem Theogony , dealing with the Golden Age before humanity suffered pain , misery or the need to work . The setting sun in the background and the man looking away from the woman and child , and instead into the distance , signify his knowledge that his days of ease are coming to an end . 
