Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball

Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball, painted in 1833 and now in York Art Gallery, depicts women in various states of dress and undress preparing their costumes for a masquerade — a subject that allowed Etty to combine his passion for the female figure with a narrative of contemporary social life. The fancy dress ball was a fashionable entertainment in Regency and early Victorian England, and the preparation scene provided a domestic justification for displaying female beauty. Etty's warm, Venetian-influenced palette gives the scene a rich sensuousness that distinguishes it from the cooler, more restrained approach of contemporary British genre painting. York Art Gallery preserves the most comprehensive collection of Etty's oeuvre anywhere.

Etty's warm, luminous flesh tones and rich palette reflect his deep study of Venetian masters and Rubens. The sensuous handling of paint and the careful modeling of light on the figure demonstrate his exceptional skill as a colorist.