A painting a day · No. 22 of 38
Ophelia
John Everett Millais (1829–1896)
1851–1852 · Oil on canvas · Tate Britain, London
The story
Hamlet's Ophelia, singing as she drowns. Millais painted the riverbank outdoors on the Hogsmill River in Surrey over five months, then painted the model, Elizabeth Siddal, in his London studio, lying in a bath of water.
Look closer
- The flowers each mean something: poppies for death, violets around her neck for faithfulness, forget-me-nots.
- A robin sits on the branch at top left.
- Every leaf is painted as sharply as the face. The Pre-Raphaelites wanted nature exactly as it is.
Did you know
The lamps under the bath went out, and Siddal caught a bad cold. Her father made Millais pay the doctor's bill.
Why we can show it
John Everett Millais died in 1896. UK copyright lasts for the artist’s life plus 70 years, so even under today’s rules this painting would have been free for anyone to show since 1967. The photograph is a faithful copy of a flat work, which creates no new copyright. We do not store the picture: it comes from Wikimedia Commons each time it is needed. More on this.