Lady Godiva was bequeathed by social reformer Thomas Hancock Nunn. When he died in 1937, the painting was offered to the Corporation of Hampstead. He specified in his will that should his bequest be refused by Hampstead, the painting was then to be offered to Coventry.[3] The model in the painting is Mab (Mabel) Paul, an artist model and West End theatre actress who was also painted as herself by John Collier.
