When Laurence des Cars was appointed president-director of the Louvre in 2021, it was a historic marker. The world’s most visited museum had a woman in charge for the first time since it was founded in 1793.

“Top jobs are symbols,” Ms. des Cars said recently in an interview. “And I take the symbol very seriously.”

At the time, she already held an important lead role at a major institution, running the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, but the reaction to the Louvre news surprised her for what she called the “intensity and worldwide echo of the announcement.”

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/arts/design/women-leadership-museums.html