COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

The story of Lady Godiva and her naked ride through Coventry is known by people around the world.



Equally famous is the character of Peeping Tom, who spied on the naked Godiva and was struck blind as a result.

What is less well known is that Peeping Tom was not originally part of the story and his appearance in it seems to be due to a painting which hangs in the Herbert.

The painting shows Lady Godiva on horseback and it was painted in 1586 by the Flemish artist Adam van Noort, who was a teacher to Rubens. We believe this to be the earliest known oil painting of Godiva's famous ride.

Van Noort may well have visited Coventry in person, as the painting shows what seems to be an accurate view of the Coventry Cross.

However, the rest of the buildings shown are completely unlike the architecture found in Coventry at the time he painted this picture, and have obviously been made more grand and fanciful.

If you look closely at the upstairs window in one of the buildings to the right of Lady Godiva, you can just make out a figure peering at her from the window.

It is likely that this was intended to be Godiva's husband, Earl Leofric. It was Leofric who suggested that Godiva ride naked through the streets as a way of persuading him to stop taxing the people of Coventry.

However in 1634 a group of soldiers from Norwich came to Coventry and saw van Noort's painting hanging in St Mary's Guildhall.

They wrote an account of their visit which mentioned the figure in the window and 'the wanton's glancing eye', not realising that it was meant to be Leofric.

This character soon became known as Peeping Tom and was sometimes described as a poor taylor. He became a key part of the story and today the name of Peeping Tom has become part of the English language

But there is a further twist. For decades after the painting was made it was hung in St Mary's Guildhall, where it deteriorated with age, acquiring layers of dirt and varnish.

The surface of the painting grew so dark that the figure at the window became hidden and remained so for almost 300 years.

In fact it was only when the painting was cleaned by conservators at the Herbert in 1976 that his presence was again revealed.

The painting now hangs in the Discover Godiva gallery. This interactive, hands-on gallery tells the legendary story of Lady Godiva and looks at her enduring significance to the city of Coventry.

For more information about van Noort's famous painting and the museum's Discover Godiva gallery, visit theherbert.org.

“We are pleased to see the Herbert's Hidden Histories column has generated some lively discussion in the Observer's letters pages over the last few weeks.

“We would just like to clarify the article entitled 'Discover who in the world Lewis Carroll is…' ,that was published on June 20 said the following: 'Arthur Ransome, a bespectacled boy who later lived in the same room that Carroll had used as a study, wrote about imagined school holiday adventures in Swallows and Amazons'.

“It did not say, as one letter-writer suggested, that 'Lewis Carroll wrote about imagined school holidays in Swallows and Amazons'.

“We hope this clears up any confusion caused, and we look forward to seeing Observer readers at the Herbert soon.”

The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.