The Old, Old Story 1903

John William Godward painted "The Old, Old Story," during a period when art was often a portal to the past. Here, we see a woman adorned in classical drapery, seemingly lost in thought while a man attempts to engage her. Godward, working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was part of a movement called Neoclassicism, which looked back to ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration. But this wasn't just about aesthetics; it was about creating a sense of timelessness and idealized beauty. The emotional distance between the figures and the woman’s passive posture might reflect the limited roles and expectations placed on women during Godward's time. The use of exotic animal skins could be interpreted as symbols of wealth and power, but also as a subtle nod to the era’s colonial mindset. Godward, who took his own life, once said "painters must be either philosophers or poets." Perhaps in this painting he asks us to consider the stories we tell ourselves about love, beauty, and the weight of history.