Jozef Van Lerius, Lady Godiva

by Atelier Liesjes

In a dimly lit Romanesque colonnade stands a young woman, naked save for her sandals and her long plait. With both hands, she holds a wide green cloak with a dark blue lining and a red-and-yellow trim close to her body, whilst she turns away and looks out over her shoulder. Her skin is ivory-white with a pink glow; her hair is chestnut brown and golden. To the left, a view opens out onto a narrow medieval street with stepped gables and a round corner tower; at the bottom, a white horse with red reins pokes its head over a stone balustrade. The floor is paved with a mosaic of yellow and blue squares. Van Lerius painted this canvas using the polished, almost porcelain-like technique of Antwerp history painting: no visible brushstrokes, smooth skin, and carefully rendered folds. The subject is the legend of Lady Godiva, who rode naked through Coventry to force her husband to lower taxes, but the scene depicts only the moment of undressing, in the shelter of a portico. As a result, the nudity is more vulnerable than sensual. The colours are warm and earthy: terracotta, olive green, golden brown and a cool blue in the lining of the cloak.
Jozef Van Lerius (Lier 1823 – Mechelen 1876) was a Belgian painter of historical and genre pieces, trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he later taught himself; he ended his career as director of the academy in Mechelen. His work embodies the Romanticism of the nineteenth century, with a strong focus on dramatic female figures from history and legend. This Lady Godiva is one of his best-known paintings and has been admired for generations for the subtle tension between modesty and pride, between concealment and revelation. A refined, monumental work for a classic living room.