Renaissance to modern art · Models, heroines, workers and artists

Women in painting appear as portraits, mythological figures, heroines and creators, revealing as much the history of the gaze as that of their own artistic affirmation.

The representation of women runs through the entire history of Western painting. Leonardo da Vinci and Vermeer give the female portrait an enigmatic presence; Botticelli and Titian transform ancient goddesses into ideals of beauty; domestic scenes show work, reading or family life. But women are not only models. Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana and Artemisia Gentileschi have been building remarkable careers since the Renaissance and the Baroque era despite obstacles to training and academies. Their self-portraits clearly claim the status of artists, while their biblical heroines embody action, intelligence and power. The "Women in Painting" selection notably compares The Mona Lisa - Leonardo da Vinci and The Girl with a Pearl Earring - Johannes Vermeer. His reading favors movement.

Looking at women in painting means observing both the roles that an era attributes to them and the means by which they themselves take possession of the image.