Lady Godivas of the Twentieth Century

The legend of Lady Godiva tells of a woman who rode nude through the streets of Conventry, all for the sake of lower taxes. The year was 1057. Lady Godiva was the wife of Leofric, earl of Mercia, one of the three great earls of 11th century England. Leofric was so exasperated by Lady Godiva's constant requests to reduce the taxes of Conventry that he declared he would lower the taxes only if Lady Godiva would ride through the town naked. She did so, covering herself with only her hair. The town rejoiced as taxes were lifted. Whether or not this account really happened, one will never know but the legend did spark enough interest to carry it through 930 years of story telling.

The coined phrase 'peeping tom' originated from this event as well. In seventeenth-century England, a later account of the story contended that Lord Godiva required all the townsmen to remain indoors while his wife took her famous ride. Peeping Tom was a citizen who grabbed a few glances out his window at the beautiful nude horseback rider. Of course, in this version of the legend, Peeping Tom was immediately struck dead.

Images of women and horses experienced great popularity at the turn of the century, bringing to life a fantasy that can be traced back to Lady Godiva. Around 1903, a photographer named Gerlach seized the Lady Godiva theme but with a much more romantic interpretation. While he did not photograph nudes, he did take the liberty of portraying women in risqué bodysuits, placing them in dark dramatic settings with the wind blowing gently through their hair.

The trend of portraying romantic women and their horses continued long after Gerlach's day had come and gone. Photographers and producers of fantasy images continued this popular theme through the end of the 1920's, using hand-applied color to enhance the effects of the image.

This information provided by Pam at Tallulahs.