Lady Godiva

Here's another of my favourite paintings: John Collier's Lady Godiva (c. 1898). CLICK for a larger graphic. This painting resides in the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry, the city where Lady Godiva's fabled ride in the nude took place as a protest against hubby's heavy taxation of its citizens. Collier managed the clever trick of making a supremely beautiful nude appear as a virtuous noblewoman by bowing her head and putting a hand to her bosom. He conveys her courage and determination, rather than her sexuality. I was surprised to find that the BBC's Your Paintings website doesn't include this world famous work among the 16 inferior paintings of Lady Godiva it has digitized (CLICK).