Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Robert Vernon
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-etty-172" aria-label="More by William Etty" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">William Etty</a>
Youth on Prow and Pleasure at Helm
Presented by Robert Vernon 1847
adults
animals: birds
bathing / swimming
bird - non-specific
birth to death
birth to death
boat - non-specific
bubble
cloud
death - whirlwind
female
garland
Gray, Thomas, ‘The Bard’
leisure and pastimes
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
male
man
natural phenomena
nudes
people
plants and flowers
recreational activities
sail
sea
seascapes and coasts
society
symbols and personifications
transport: water
weather
whirlwind
woman
youth
<p>Thomas Gray’s poem <i>The Bard</i>, published in 1757, fascinated many of the Romantic generation. Etty’s picture illustrates the linesIn gallant trim, the gilded vessel goes,Youth on the Prow, and Pleasure at the Helm,Unmindful of the sweeping whirlwind’s sway.Etty was renowned for his sensual depiction of the nude. He shows youth snatching at the ‘bubbles of pleasure’ until woken from its indulgence by ‘the whirlwind of distress’. He described the work as an ‘allegory of human life’.</p><p><em>Gallery label, May 2007</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
1 November 2001 – 31 August 2003
2003-08-31
6 September 2002 – 5 January 2003
2003-01-05
2002-09-06
Brooklyn Museum of Art (New York, USA)
2001-11-01
Exposed: The Victorian Nude
Exhibition
25 July 2005 – 26 July 2009
2009-07-26
25 July 2005
2005-07-25
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2005-07-25
Romantic Painting in Britain
Collection based display
29 July 2010 – 14 March 2011
2011-03-14
6 August 2010 – 14 March 2011
2011-03-14
2010-08-06
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-07-29
Romantics 2
Collection based display
23 June 2011 – 20 January 2012
2012-01-20
23 June 2011 – 20 January 2012
2012-01-20
2011-06-23
York Art Gallery (York, UK)
http://www.york.art.museum
2011-06-23
William Etty: Art and Controversy
Loan-out
Youth on the Prow, and Pleasure at the Helm
support: 1587 × 1175 mm
Presented by <a href="/search?gid=999999978" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Robert Vernon</a> 1847
<p>Thomas Gray’s poem <i>The Bard</i>, published in 1757, fascinated many of the Romantic generation. Etty’s picture illustrates the linesIn gallant trim, the gilded vessel goes,Youth on the Prow, and Pleasure at the Helm,Unmindful of the sweeping whirlwind’s sway.Etty was renowned for his sensual depiction of the nude. He shows youth snatching at the ‘bubbles of pleasure’ until woken from its indulgence by ‘the whirlwind of distress’. He described the work as an ‘allegory of human life’.</p>

Display caption
2007-05-03T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
adults animals: birds bathing / swimming bird - non-specific birth to death birth to death boat - non-specific bubble cloud death - whirlwind female garland Gray, Thomas, ‘The Bard’ leisure and pastimes literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) male man natural phenomena nudes people plants and flowers recreational activities sail sea seascapes and coasts society symbols and personifications transport: water weather whirlwind woman youth