 In August 1843 , during a break from his work on the fresco , Etty made what was to prove his final overseas journey . Since 1839 he had been planning a series of monumental paintings of Joan of Arc , and he wanted to visit places associated with her . Setting out on 16 August he spent two weeks touring sites in Rouen , Paris and Orléans associated with her life . Unlike Etty 's disastrous prior visits to France , this journey passed without incident , and he found that he actually was coming to enjoy certain aspects of French living . 
