Ophelia (painting)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
| Ophelia |
| Sir John Everett Millais, 1851-1852 |
| oil on canvas |
| 168 × 112 cm |
| Tate Gallery |
Ophelia is a painting by John Everett Millais, completed in 1852. It depicts the character from Shakespeare's play Hamlet singing while floating in a river just before her death by drowning, as described in the play in a famous speech by Hamlet's mother Gertrude.
There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
There with fantastic garlands did she come,
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples,
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men’s fingers call them:
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke,
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide,
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up;
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes,
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indu’d
Unto that element; but long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.
Ophelia was modelled by artist and muse Elizabeth Siddall, who nearly died from a fever caught while modelling in a cold bath for the painting.[citation needed] Millais was so intent on his work that he had forgotten to replace the candles that were keeping the water warm.[citation needed]
The painting is known for its depiction of the detailed flora of the river and the riverbank, stressing the patterns of growth and decay in natural eco-systems. Despite its nominal Danish setting, the landscape came to be seen as essentially English. It was painted along the banks of the Hogsmill river, near Tolworth, Greater London. Barbara Webb, a resident of nearby Old Malden, devoted much time to finding the exact placement of the picture, and according to her research, it is Six Acre Meadow, alongside Church Road, Old Malden. Millais's close colleague William Holman Hunt was working on The Hireling Shepherd nearby at the same time.
The flowers seen floating along the river were chosen to correspond to Shakespeare's description of Ophelia's garland, but also reflect Victorian interest in the "language of flowers", according to which each flower carries a symbolic meaning. The prominent red poppy, not mentioned by Shakespeare, stands for sleep and death. Ophelia's pose, opening her arms and gazing upwards, resembles traditional portrayals of saints or martyrs, but has also been interpreted as erotic. Ophelia is held at Tate Britain, London.
