Lady Godiva

Despite being naked, the saddle in which the woman is riding the horse with has intricate patterns. The horse is adorned with patterns that imply nobility - then why is this woman naked? In public? 

The woman in the painting is Lady Godiva - a famous figure within Coventry, seen as a saviour for saving citizens of Coventry from high taxes that were demanded by her husband. The only way her husband would give up the high taxes and the city was, if she rode through the town naked. Which she did. According to her legend none of the townspeople had seen her naked, her body mostly covered by her hair.

The reason why as the audience we can see more of her body could be that this painting was done from the perspective of a ‘Peeping Tom’ - rumoured to have been either struck blind or dead, perhaps this was what he saw last. Legend of Lady Godiva is also seen as a religious myth - the fact that none of the townspeople saw her (the one that did punished) and Lady Godiva’s devotion to Virgin Mary are factors that all add up to this interpretation. Her walking naked also implies, both in the legend and the painting, her leaving worldly possessions - reaching salvation.

References: Nichols, Kate. “How should we look at Victorian nudes? John Collier’s Godiva (1898).” Midlands Art Papers 2 (2018).

French, Katherine L. “The legend of Lady Godiva and the image of the female body.” Journal of Medieval History 18, no. 1 (1992): 3-19.