Lady Godiva Preparing to Ride through Coventry, c. 1833

George Jones RA (1786 - 1869)

RA Collection: Art

This drawing is a smaller version of 'Lady Godiva Preparing to Ride through Coventry' (Tate Britain) which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1833. There are minor differences between the two but the overall composition is the same in each version. Lady Godiva wears unusually extensive drapery in both of Jones's paintings of the scene.

The Times art critic, reviewing the 1833 annual exhibition, described the oil version as 'a picture of great merit; fanciful, cleverly imagined, and painted with no mean skill. It is not as well calculated to please the million as his 'View of Ghent', no. 101, and his former views of Continental cities; but it may convince those who have looked those who have looked with the interest they are calculated to excite on the sketches in black and white which he has occasionally exhibited, that this artist requires nothing but application to achieve as signal success in his historical composition as he has in a humbler walk of art' (The Times, Monday, Jul 01, 1833 p. 3). However, the Morning Chronicle condemned it as 'badly drawn' though the treatment of the subject was considered 'a lesson of decency' (Thursday, May 16, 1833).

Jones attended the Royal Academy Schools and exhibited at the annual exhibition from 1803 onwards. In the early part of his career most of his paintings were portraits and literary genre subjects but he became known as 'Waterloo Jones' after joining the army as a British officer in the Napoleonic Wars. He used his military experience to paint numerous highly successful depictions of 'The Battle of Waterloo' (including 1820; Royal Military Hospital, Chelsea). Jones subsequently specialised in battle scenes but he nevertheless continued to produce biblical and topographical subjects as well as more frivolous literary and historical scenes. He often reused the same subject matter and the story of Godiva is one which he treated on at least two further occasions. In 1836 he exhibited 'Godiva's Return' at the Academy and 'Godiva with her gentlewoman to wait upon her, gallops through the town' in 1867.