Some of the works on the trail are traditional pieces that seem newly relevant once you learn more about their subject, such as the 1895 portrait of Josephine Butler, a Victorian suffragist who helped establish refuges for homeless women and campaigned against laws that discriminated against sex workers. Others, like the striking stained-glass self-portrait by pop artist Pauline Boty, are much more unusual.

“We wanted to show people by going on the trail, from the earliest parts of the gallery right down to the contemporary, that actually the walls are populated with the most extraordinary women in British history,” curator Rosie Broadley said at the trail’s launch.

At first glance, not all of the women highlighted by the trail seem like rebels. (When you think of a maverick, you probably don’t think of children’s author Beatrix Potter, whose portrait was selected by comedian Miranda Hart.) But, says Broadley, all were pioneers in their own way.

“It’s about looking at who pushed against boundaries or defied rigid expectations of them within their own time period, within their own life,” she said.

“I think what’s really interesting about these women is the completely different struggles that they had to overcome. They have been chosen because they had such amazingly diverse stories, and that’s what makes the trail so fascinating.”

This new art trail celebrates pioneering British women from history