Does anybody know where I can find a larger (online) version of this picture? Any help would be appreciated.
I found this doing a simple google image search. HTH 
Thanks, Jim, I found the first version using a Google Image search, too. Just couldn’t find a larger one :o
It’s interesting to note that on the day that Lady Godiva made her famous ride, there was a stiff breeze. Her hair kept being blown away from her, and gave half the town lined up along the streets a good view.
This, of course, was the origin of the phrase “Hurrah for our side!”
But wasn’t she trying to give the town a good view? Not much point in riding through the town naked if you’re just going to hide under your hair.
Nope, not according to legend anyway. She was a noble-woman, married to Leofric III (the Earl of Mercia). As the town grew (in no small part due to the monastery they’d founded there), the tax burden imposed by Leofric on the local population increased - Lady Godiva didn’t agree with this and asked her husband to reduce it. He refused, she asked him what she would have to do for him to agree - he told her that if she rode through the town naked on horseback, he’d comply.
Legend has it that she got word to the townspeople who agreed to turn away as she rode through, out of respect for the woman who was championing their cause. The ride duly went ahead and everyone turned away, except a shopkeeper called Tom, who peeped (hence the phrase ‘peeping Tom’) and was apparently immediately struck blind (though I think historians agree that this last bit was made up later).
Is it just me, or does the Lady Godiva in that painting look really petite? She looks more like a young teenager than a woman. Not that it mattered much back then. How old was Lady Godiva supposed to be in the legend? I suppose the horse could be really big, but it looks like an average-sized horse to me.
Anyhoo, that painting is now my wallpaper…
Xerxes
I think you probably knew that the “Peeping Tom” story is an Urban Legend. I’ve heard that he was struck by eating Pop Rocks™ and soda LOL.
Anyway, here’s a link which goes into the “Peeping Tom” myth and the fact that even Lady Godiva’s ride may never have taken place. 
http://www.harvard-magazine.com/on-line/070377.html
Also, the painting at that site (though more revealing) shows Ms Godiva to be a bit “chunkier” than than the other ‘petite’ version (which certainly gets my vote for historical accuracy).