Lesbian history

Zoan-Andrea (1464-1526), Two women. Italian Renaissance engraving.

Allegorical kiss between Justice and Peace.

Allegorical kiss between Justice and Peace.

Zeus, disguised as Diana, rapes Callisto. This is the only openly lesbian Greek myth.

Hendrick Goltzius (1581-1617), Justice and Prudence kiss each other.

Hendrick Goltzius (1581-1617), Concordia and Peace kiss each other.

Gérard Lairesse, Diana e Callisto.

Jacopo Amigoni (1675 - 1752), Giove e Callisto (ca. 1740/1750).

Three women. 18th century engraving, created for a male audience.

Sappho reading a poem. Attic vase, 440-430 bC.

Colossal head of Sappho, Istanbul. 2nd century aD.

Colossal head of Sappho, Istanbul. 2nd century aD.

The so-called "Sappho". Fourth style Roman fresco, 1st century AD; Pompeii, Region VI, Insula occidentalis.

Sappho as seen by Raphael, circa 1510. Rome, Palazzi vaticani, stanza della segnatura.

Sappho by Claude Ramey, 1801.

Queen Christina of Sweden.

Sébastien Bourdon: Christina of Sweden.

Sébastien Bourdon: Christina of Sweden (1653).

Christina of Sweden - engraving by Quillet.

Queen Christina's grave, in San Pietro, Roma.

Monument in the Musei Capitolini in Roma.

Monument in the Musei Capitolini in Roma.

Sébastien Bourdon (±1653): Ebba Sparre (1626-1662) lady-in-waiting to and intimate companion of Sweden's Queen Christina

Embraced Caryatids in Vienna.

Embraced Caryatids in Vienna.

Courbet - The Sleep

Courbet - The Sleep

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), The sofa Sun.

Toulouse-Lautrec, The two girlfriends, (ca. 1894-5).

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901). Two girlfriends.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), Two women.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), Two half-naked women.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), At the Moulin rouge (1892)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), In bed (1892)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), In bed (1893)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), In bed (1893)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), The kiss, (1892).

Wilhelm von Plueschow (1852-1930), Two women, Rome, ca. 1900.

Allegorical statues in Vienna.

Allegorical statues in Vienna.

Allegorical statues in Vienna.

Potok (1903) by Maxmilián Pirner

Egon Schiele, Frauenpaar, 1915.

"Lesbian couple". From a criminological book, 1915.

Deux jeunes Femme couchées by Félix-Jacques Moulin 1850

Egon Schiele, Hochendes frauenpaar, 1918.

A 1928 issue of German lesbian paper "Die freundin".

The black triangle, used in nazi lagers for "asocial" people, is now a widespread lesbian symbol.

Sappho in a 1883 engraving.

Scandalous rumor about Emma Hamilton, early 1800s

Anne Lister (1791-1840)

American actress Charlotte Cushman (1816-1876) in 1857.

Charlotte Cushman (1816-1876)

Charlotte Cushman (1816-1876)

American sculptor Harriet Hosmer (1830-1908). She was Charlotte Cushman's lover.

dr Mary (Edward) Walker (1832-1919), a "passing woman", in 1863 ca.

French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) around 1864.

Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) in 1879. She was longtime companion to French sculptor Louise Abbéma.

Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) by Giovanni Boldini , ca. 1880.

Sarah Bernhardt as Cleopatra, 1891.

Sarah Bernhardt, 1891.

French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) in male clothes in L'Aiglon (1910).

British writer Vernon Lee (i.e. Violet Paget, 1856–1935).

British writer Vernon Lee (i.e. Violet Paget, 1856–1935) in 1889.

Natalie Clifford Barney (1876-1972) in 1892.

Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) in 1902.

Liane de Pougy (1869-1950) (1902).

Liane de Pougy par Nadar.

Liane de Pougy par Nadar.

Male impersonator Hetty King (Winifred Emms, 1883-1972) in 1908.

Hetty King (Winifred Emms, 1883-1972) in 1910.

Paul César Helleu (1859-1927), Liane de Pougy, (1908 ca.).

Russian dancer Ida Rubinstein (1885-1960) in 1910.

Léon Bakst, La danseuse Ida Rubinstein (1885-1960) en Hélène de Sparte, 1912.

Openly lesbian German singer Claire Waldoff in 1914.

Renée Vivien, ca. 1909.

Isadora Duncan. She was bisexual. Her best documented love affair is the one with writer Mercedes de Acosta.

Isadora Duncan and Sergei Yesenin, 1923.

Russian writer Zinaida Gippius (Зинаида Николаевна Гиппиус, 1869-1945), by Léon Bakst (1906).

Russian poet Sophia Yakovlevna Parnok (1885-1933).

Sophia Yakovlevna Parnok's birthhouse.

Dame Ethel Smyth in 1901. A composer, a stern feminist, Smyth was also for a time Virginia Woolf's lover.

Selma Lagerlof (1908), painted by Carl Larsson.

Author Selma Lagerlöf receiving the Nobel prize.

Frida Kahlo nel 1932.

Frida Kahlo in 1932.

American writer Gertrude Stein, photographed by Carl Van Vechten in 1934.

Gertrude Stein photographed by Carl Van Vechten in 1935.

Gertrude Stein photographed by Carl Van Vechten in 1935.

Alice B. Toklas (1877-1967) photographed by Carl Van Vechten in 1949.

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker photographed by Carl Van Vechten, October 20, 1949

Elsie de Wolfe circa 1917

Mercedes de Acosta

La Lista lesbica italiana al Bari Pride (Italy, 2003).

Arcilesbica - at lesbian and gay pride in Grosseto (Italy, 2004).

"Dykes on bykes" at San Francisco march, 2005.

"Dykes on bykes" at the Icelandic lesbian and gay pride march.

"Dykes on bykes" at the Icelandic lesbian and gay pride march.

At the lesbian and gay pride march in Taiwan, 2005.

At the lesbian and gay pride march in Taiwan, 2005.

At the lesbian and gay pride march in Taiwan, 2005.

Ellen DeGeneres at Emmys.

Openly "out" tennis champion Amélie Mauresmo in 2005.

Italian film-maker Gabriella Romano.

Italian film-maker Gabriella Romano.

Jeanette Winterson.

Chen Yu-Rong, Wang Ping

Recognition of same-sex relationships: Europe

Recognition of same-sex relationships: North America, from Mexico north

Recognition of same-sex relationships: United States

Gay adoption: Europe

Gay adoption: North America