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The Fairy of the Fountain
William Etty·1845
Historical Context
The Fairy of the Fountain at Tate, painted in 1845, is a late work by William Etty depicting a supernatural female figure at a woodland fountain. Etty was the leading painter of the nude in Victorian England, continuing the Grand Manner tradition against rising moral opposition. Etty, celebrated as Britain's greatest painter of the nude, built up this work with the rich, warm color and fluid oil technique he developed through decades of drawing from life at the Royal Academy's life class.
Technical Analysis
The nude figure is set within a verdant landscape of flowing water and lush foliage. Etty's warm flesh tones and sensuous modeling demonstrate his command of the academic nude tradition.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the supernatural female figure at a woodland fountain — one of Etty's late works from 1845, now at Tate, combining the nude with a fairy-tale setting.
- ◆Look at the warm flesh tones and sensuous modeling set within verdant landscape of flowing water and lush foliage.
- ◆Observe Etty maintaining his commitment to the academic nude tradition against rising Victorian moral opposition.
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