The painting
...a disgusting combination of voluptuousness and loathsome putridity - glowing in colour and wonderful in execution, but conceived in the worst possible taste.
The Sirens and Ulysses has quite a history. William Etty regarded it as his best work. But his depiction of the Sirens - as dangerous temptresses luring unwary sailors to their deaths - horrified the nineteenth century audience and divided public and academic opinion.
Etty's sensuous depictions of the female figure earned him both membership of the Royal Academy and a reputation for indecency. Nearly 200 years later, The Sirens and Ulysses still provokes an extreme response.
