Lady Godiva by Christina Gurunian : The Inspiration
Lady Godiva is a painting I did in 2012 .It is an oil on painting on canvas 100 cm x 70 cm dimensions .The inspiration came from the legend of Lady Godiva. She was the wife of Leodric III who lived in the 10th -11th century both. Her husband was the count of Mercie and the sir of Coventry, a city in the middle of the United Kingdom. The count taxed the citizens too much. Lady Godiva asked him again and again to decrease taxes but he didn’t want to. However, he told her if she rode a horse naked, and went around the city, he would suppress the highest taxes. She did it, so he did it!
Lady Godiva symbolizes the feminine power , courage & ability to against Tyranny.
Lady Godiva : the Legend and Pop Culture
This is the typical version of the story:
Lady Godiva took pity on the people of Coventry living under her husband’s oppressive taxation. Consequently she appealed again and again to her husband, who refused to lower the taxes.
Finally , the husband said he would grant her request if she would strip naked and ride on a horse through the streets of the town. So, Lady Godiva took him at his word, and after issuing an order that all people should stay indoors and shut their windows, she rode through the town, clothed only in her long hair
Lady Godiva has been the muse of many paintings. John Collier in 1897 painted her naked but covered by her long hair on a white horse covered in a red cloth. However, Edmund Blair Leighton’s depiction in his 1892 painting was very different, she is completely covered in a white dress, suggesting purity. Leighton’s depiction reflects her desire to preserve her modesty by asking the town not to look out their windows.
The Godiva legend has also spread far beyond Coventry in the name of the Godiva Chocolatier, a company founded in Brussels with now more than 450 stores worldwide. It also inspired a line in one of 1970/’80s band Queen’s most popular songs, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’: ‘I’m a racing car, passing by like Lady Godiva’. The song reached platinum status in both the U.S. and U.K.
