About this tour
Romanticism was one of the great upheavals in the history of art — a movement that rejected the cool rationalism of Neoclassicism in favour of passion, emotion, individual experience, and the raw power of nature. It produced some of the most viscerally compelling paintings ever made.
The Louvre holds extraordinary works from both sides of the Channel: the monumental French canvases of Géricault and Delacroix alongside the luminous English landscapes of Constable and Bonington, whose influence on French painting was far greater than most visitors realise. This tour brings the two traditions into dialogue and shows how much each owed to the other.
Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix, 1830 — the defining image of French Romanticism
What you will see
The tour moves between the great French Romantic canvases and the English works that inspired and provoked them. Géricault's Raft of the Medusa, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People and his intimate Moroccan subjects, and the English painters whose fresh approach to landscape painting electrified the Paris Salon of 1824.
If there is a particular work or artist within the Romantic movement you are most drawn to, mention it in your request. While nothing can be promised, every effort will be made.
Who is this tour for?
This tour is a natural choice for anyone who loves 19th century painting, or who wants to understand the dramatic shift in artistic sensibility that separated the Romantic age from what came before it. It is also particularly appealing for British visitors who want to discover the strong connections between French and English painting in this period.
Availability
The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. All other days are available, subject to your preferred time slot.
Important notice
The Louvre is a living museum. Rooms may occasionally close without notice for operational reasons, and works are regularly moved for restoration, loans, or temporary exhibitions. The three great icons of the collection — the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace — are on permanent display and accessible whenever the museum is open. For any other specific work, if it is unavailable on the day, an equally fascinating alternative will always be proposed.