Women of the Louvre
A walk through five thousand years of the female figure, and a way to discover the Louvre beyond its most crowded rooms.
The Louvre's collection spans five thousand years, and across that whole sweep the female figure has been one of art's most constant subjects. This tour uses that subject as a lens, moving from the ancient world to the 19th century and asking at each stop who is representing women, how, and why.
It is also a way to step away from the busiest rooms. Because the female figure runs through the whole museum, the tour becomes a pretext to seek out quieter, less familiar works, while still taking in the three famous ladies along the way, or skipping them altogether if you would rather not. The route adapts to whichever galleries are open on the day, so no two visits follow quite the same path.
What you will see
We cross the entire museum, from the goddesses and queens of the ancient world to the great figures of the French schools, with the focus on quieter, less familiar works that most visitors walk straight past. The route is built with care around the galleries open on the day, so the visit always holds together, and the famous masterpieces remain within easy reach whenever you wish to see them.
It is open to everyone, but resonates especially with those interested in gender, history and the social dimension of art, and works well for groups of friends or colleagues. If a period or figure draws you, mention it when you enquire.
Goddesses · queens · sitters · and the women who painted
Pépin's advice
Come ready to talk. This is the tour that most invites conversation. The questions it raises are as much a part of it as the works themselves.
Notice who is absent. Part of the story is how few women were allowed to paint. Looking for that absence is as revealing as looking at the images.
A window, not a revolution. This tour does not claim to change the world, and we are not sociologists. Its ambition is gentler: to open a window onto these works, and to plant a small seed, a pépin, that keeps growing long after the visit.
Good to know
The Louvre does not open every gallery every day. The museum is closed on Tuesdays, which is the only day this tour cannot run. Any other day works well. Very occasionally a room opens late, or not at all, for operational reasons the museum does not announce in advance. If that happens it is beyond anyone's control, and we simply turn to another part of the collection so your time is never lost. With more than thirty-five thousand works on display, the Louvre is never short of something remarkable, and a private guide can reshape the visit on the spot in a way a fixed group tour never could.
