Discover the History of Lady Godiva

She covered herself with her long hair and rode through the streets. The townspeople stayed indoors and did not look at her.
Only one person dared to look at Godiva – Peeping Tom.

He was immediately struck blind as a punishment. When Godiva completed her ride Leofric agreed to make Coventry free from all taxes.

The painting is based on the scene in the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, where Godiva approaches her husband Leofric to tell him the people of Coventry have no food.

"...he laid a tax upon the town, and all the mothers brought their children, clamouring, 'If we pay, we starve!'

She sought her lord, and found him, where he strode about the hall, among his dogs, alone, his beard a foot before, and his hair a yard behind..."

Leighton tried to make his painting historically accurate.

He dressed the characters in what he believed to be authentic Anglo-Saxon clothes and placed them in a convincing looking setting.

The Victorians had a mixed attitude towards nudity. It was often frowned upon, but voluptuous portrayals were acceptable in art. Woolmer's treatment of the Godiva story reflects this attitude.

Woolmer based Godiva's pose on classical statues of Venus, and presents Godiva as an object of desire. He dwells on the soft flesh, the animal fur, the silks and the colours of the sunset.

Tennyson's poem revived interest in Godiva and made the legend of the ride widely known. The vivid detail of the poem encouraged artists to paint specific episodes from the story.

Claxton painted this only a few years after Tennyson's poem was published. Godiva stands under an arch about to mount the horse to begin her ride.

She is shown from the back, perhaps because of the Victorian sensitivity to nudity. The dog that is annoying the horse is the 'barking cur' in Tennyson's poem.

Edwin Landseer was one of the most successful painters of the early Victorian period and was Queen Victoria's favourite living artist. Landseer began Godiva's Prayer in the 1840s.

It is a pious scene which shows Godiva praying, probably before starting her ride. The spire of St Michael's church is visible in the background.

Godiva was originally played by a boy, though later the part was played by women, often actresses.

The Mayor, city officials and guild members took part, as shown in these two paintings by Coventry artist David Gee. The processions were often rowdy occasions that sometimes ended in riots.