Beyoncé unveiled the cover for Renaissance, her latest album and many fans immediately noted on social media that it resembles a famous 19th-century painting. Carlijn Jacobs shot the cover, which features a scantily clad Beyoncé astride a silvery horse. It is strikingly similar to John Collier's 1880/98 painting Lady Godiva, which depicts a naked woman from Anglo-Saxon mythology.
According to legend, Lady Godiva rode a horse naked in the 11th century to protest her husband Leofric's plans to impose a harsh tax on the citizens of Coventry, England. Leofric threatened to call it off if she showed up in town naked and on horseback, and she accepted his challenge. (She is said to have told all the citizens to stay at home so she could keep her dignity, and all but one, a man now known as Peeping Tom, did, though this is thought to be apocryphal.)
When Beyoncé announced the album cover, she didn't mention Lady Godiva or the Collier painting, though her caption on Instagram seemed to echo some of the themes of the Anglo-Saxon legend. Beyoncé said of her album, "My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment." "A sanctuary from perfectionism and overthinking." A place to scream, let go, and feel free. It was a lovely journey of discovery."
John Collier - Lady Godiva - c 1898 - Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
Several fan accounts on Twitter made the comparison to Collier's painting, and some also linked the Renaissance cover to the time in 1977 when Bianca Jagger arrived on horseback at New York's famed Studio 54 club.
Beyoncé has made numerous art-historical references in previous projects. She has appeared in her music videos alongside her husband, rapper Jay-Z, in front of Louvre masterpieces and a rarely seen Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, and she has featured works by David Hammons, Richard Prince, Derrick Adams, Conrad Egyir, Robert Pruitt, and others. She has even included artists in her various initiatives, hiring photographers such as Awol Erizku and Tyler Mitchell to photograph her. So far, it's unclear whether Renaissance will make any further references to art history—the first single, "BREAK MY SOUL," lacks any obvious ones. The title of the album, on the other hand, seems to imply that there may be more to come. Fans will find out for certain when the album is released on July 29.
Jean Dubreil