The two impressionist painters most enamored of the female figure are Renoir and Edgar Degas. Renoir’s rotund and tender young women may appear monotonous to modern viewers. Degas’ depictions of women, on the other hand, are often accused of being unflattering or voyeuristic. In our presentation we will try to prove that Degas deployed, through his career, a vision of extraordinary complexity in his physical and psychological exploration of the female figure. We will discover the great diversity in social class and physical type of the women he depicted. Beyond the famous Opera dancers, are the laundresses, milliners, bourgeoises, aristocrats, artists, actresses, acrobats, prostitutes and bathers as well as fictional figures. They prove, beyond doubt, that Degas is possibly the greatest and certainly most complex painter of the female figure in the history of art.