Feeling unsettled, Etty left Rome for Venice, intending to remain there for 10 days and then return to England.
Evans preferred to remain in Rome, so Etty travelled alone, pausing briefly in Florence and in Ferrara (where he stopped to kiss the armchair of Ludovico Ariosto).
The painter Charles Lock Eastlake, then resident in Rome, had provided Etty with a letter of introduction to Harry D'Orville, British Vice consul in Venice; D'Orville was so impressed with Etty that he arranged for him to stay in his own house, rather than in lodgings.
Etty had long considered Venice his spiritual home and "the hope and idol of my professional life", and had often wondered why, given its artistic importance, so few English travellers visited the city.
He was not disappointed.
Throughout the remainder of his life, he looked back on his visit to Venice with great fondness, writing shortly before his death that "Venezia, cara Venezia!
thy pictured glories haunt my fancy now!"

Although Etty had only intended to stay for 10 days, he was so taken with Venice that he remained for over seven months.
He fell into a routine of copying paintings in Venetian collections by day, and attending the life class of the Venetian Academy of Fine Arts by night, producing around 50 oil paintings in total as well as numerous pencil sketches.
He was extremely impressed with the high quality of the Venetian Academy; the instructors in their turn were extremely impressed with the quality of Etty's work, in particular his flesh tones.
He acquired the nickname of "Il Diavolo" owing to the high speed at which he was able to paint, and watching him at work became something of a spectacle in its own right; luminaries including Gioachino Rossini and Ladislaus Pyrker (then Patriarch of Venice) came to watch him paint.
So devoted was Etty to his studies in Venice that he exhibited no original work in 1823, writing to his brother that "If one spent all the time in painting originals, one might as well, nay better, be at home".
The members of the Venetian Academy were so impressed by Etty that he was elected an Honorary Academician.

By 7 June 1823, Etty felt that he had reached the limits of what he could accomplish in Venice, and was considering returning home.
Soon afterwards he left Venice for Florence, with the intention of creating a full-size replica of Titian's Venus of Urbino, considered one of the finest works of the Venetian school of painting.
Although the Uffizi management were hostile to this proposal, after 10 days of negotiations they allowed Etty to create his copy.
His contemporaries considered it among the finest copies ever made of a painting generally considered to be impossible to copy.
In late July Etty began the journey home, pausing for a further two months in Venice.
On 8 October 1823 Etty left Venice, travelling via Mantua and Geneva to Paris.

Etty had intended to travel to England, but instead remained in Paris, to resume copying works in Paris galleries, collecting prints and buying a lay figure and around 200 paintbrushes, both of which the French made to a higher standard than English manufacturers.
In early January 1824, Etty returned to London.
Feeling unsettled, Etty left Rome for Venice, intending to remain there for 10 days and then return to England. Evans preferred to remain in Rome, so Etty travelled alone, pausing briefly in Florence and in Ferrara (where he stopped to kiss the armchair of Ludovico Ariosto). The painter Charles Lock Eastlake, then resident in Rome, had provided Etty with a letter of introduction to Harry D'Orville, British Vice consul in Venice; D'Orville was so impressed with Etty that he arranged for him to stay in his own house, rather than in lodgings. Etty had long considered Venice his spiritual home and "the hope and idol of my professional life", and had often wondered why, given its artistic importance, so few English travellers visited the city. He was not disappointed. Throughout the remainder of his life, he looked back on his visit to Venice with great fondness, writing shortly before his death that "Venezia, cara Venezia! thy pictured glories haunt my fancy now!"
Although Etty had only intended to stay for 10 days, he was so taken with Venice that he remained for over seven months. He fell into a routine of copying paintings in Venetian collections by day, and attending the life class of the Venetian Academy of Fine Arts by night, producing around 50 oil paintings in total as well as numerous pencil sketches. He was extremely impressed with the high quality of the Venetian Academy; the instructors in their turn were extremely impressed with the quality of Etty's work, in particular his flesh tones. He acquired the nickname of "Il Diavolo" owing to the high speed at which he was able to paint, and watching him at work became something of a spectacle in its own right; luminaries including Gioachino Rossini and Ladislaus Pyrker (then Patriarch of Venice) came to watch him paint. So devoted was Etty to his studies in Venice that he exhibited no original work in 1823, writing to his brother that "If one spent all the time in painting originals, one might as well, nay better, be at home". The members of the Venetian Academy were so impressed by Etty that he was elected an Honorary Academician.
By 7 June 1823, Etty felt that he had reached the limits of what he could accomplish in Venice, and was considering returning home. Soon afterwards he left Venice for Florence, with the intention of creating a full-size replica of Titian's Venus of Urbino, considered one of the finest works of the Venetian school of painting. Although the Uffizi management were hostile to this proposal, after 10 days of negotiations they allowed Etty to create his copy. His contemporaries considered it among the finest copies ever made of a painting generally considered to be impossible to copy. In late July Etty began the journey home, pausing for a further two months in Venice. On 8 October 1823 Etty left Venice, travelling via Mantua and Geneva to Paris.
Etty had intended to travel to England, but instead remained in Paris, to resume copying works in Paris galleries, collecting prints and buying a lay figure and around 200 paintbrushes, both of which the French made to a higher standard than English manufacturers. In early January 1824, Etty returned to London.
William Etty