Ophelia (1851-52)
By: Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896)
Location: Tate Musuem, London
This painting depcits the tragic death of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. After being driven to madness by the murder of her father by her lover, Hamlet, Ophelia falls into a stream and drowns.
Millais belonged to a group named the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a collection of painters who believed that post-Raphaelean art had been corrupted, and that art ought be returned to the classical approach. In their works, as is in this painting, they used vivid colors, complex composition, accute detail, and classical poses and forms.
The model is Elizabeth Siddal, who later married another member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Siddal modeled for the painting while lying in a bathtub over a period of four months. All the flowers in the painting are depictions of real flowers with perfect botanical detail. Leaving no element to chance, Millais painted the roses as a reference to Ophelia’s nickname, “rose of May,” given to her by her brother. The daisies, willow, and nettle all symbolize forsaken love and innocence.
