 At the time , there were no public art galleries in England with permanent collections . In 1816 , in the face of his continued lack of success , Etty decided to spend a year in Italy to study the artworks held in the great Italian collections . He had made a brief visit to France in early 1815 , but other than this had never been abroad . The 28 @-@ year @-@ old Etty had fallen in love , and fretted about the difficulties a potential marriage would cause , and whether it would be right to travel to further his career even though it would mean taking his new wife to a foreign country . In the event , the woman rejected him , and he set out for the Continent in early September 1816 . 
