Ophelia (The love of Hamlet in one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays) was one of the main subjects Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite artists used for their paintings because they drew huge inspiration from her. The most famous painting of Ophelia in the scene of her death is the one by John Everett Millais.
Lizzie Saddal was the most famous Pre-Raphaelite model. John Everett Millais used her to pose for his painting ‘Ophelia’. In order to create the perfect atmosphere for his painting, she went through great pains and he had her lie in a bath tub full of water so he could catch every detail of the infamous but beautiful scene of Ophelia’s death. The water was being heated by lamps that were placed beneath the bath tub. Unfortunately, at some point the lamps stopped working and the water in the tub became too cold. The artist, being do concentrated in his work, didn’t notice, and Lizzie didn’t complain. She then contracted a severe cold, after which her father immediately threatened Millais.
John Everett Millais, ‘Ophelia’
“Millais’s Ophelia shows an unearthly beautiful woman drifting with palms upturned, just breaking the surface of the water, offering herself to death… The image is one of utter passivity.” – Gay Daly in Pre-Raphaelites in Love, to my opinion, this is one of the greatest, most beautiful depictions of Ophelia from the Pre-Raphaelite period. Looking at some other representations of Ophelia by other artists, I can see a big difference of colors. In Millais’s painting, although all of the colors in the background – the bushes and the grass – are vibrant, he manages to make a contrast between vibrant and vibrant by adding the flowers in Ophelia’s hand. Though them being a small part of the painting, they highly contribute to the the overall artistic atmosphere in it.
Not less beautiful and powerful, following are other representations of Ophelia by major artists.
‘Ophelia’ by John William Waterhouse
‘Mort d’Ophelie’ by James Bertrand
‘Ophelia’ by Antoine-Auguste-Ernest Hebert
‘Ophelia’ by Arthur Hughes
‘Ophelia’ by Henry Lejeune
Like many other art movements, styles, inspirations, Ophelia is depicted not only in paintings, but in music, beautiful music as well. This is a song from the end of the play ‘Hamlet’ i saw in Bulgaria, which came to be one of my favorite songs since.
Neli Todorova's blog 