 For the 1828 Summer Exhibition Etty exhibited three pictures ; The World Before the Flood , Venus , the Evening Star and Guardian <unk> . ( The latter was a portrait of the children of <unk> Ellis Agar , 2nd Earl of Normanton , and was the only non @-@ nude painting exhibited by Etty at the RA in the 1820s . ) Although similar to his earlier works , they were technically more accomplished . Both The World Before the Flood and Venus attracted positive reviews in the press and were sold during their exhibition for substantial sums , although the purchase by the Marquess of Stafford of The World Before the Flood — a work containing scantily clad figures of both sexes — drew a pointed comment in The Gentleman 's Magazine that it " will serve to accompany the private <unk> of that nobleman " . Despite the increasing number of complaints in the press about his use of nudity , respect for Etty from his fellow artists continued to rise , and in 1828 the British Institution awarded him £ 100 in recognition of his talent . 
