Who Painted Ophelia? The Real Story Behind the Viral Art

What Is Ophelia?

Ophelia is a fictional character from William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, written around 1600. She is the daughter of Polonius and the love interest of Prince Hamlet. In the play, Ophelia descends into madness after Hamlet kills her father and ultimately drowns in a river under suspicious circumstances. The character has become an enduring symbol of innocence, madness, and female victimhood in Western literature. The term “Ophelia” trending in 2025 refers specifically to John Everett Millais’ 1851–1852 painting of her drowning scene, which is a masterpiece of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Who Painted Ophelia and What Is the Painting’s History?

John Everett Millais, a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, painted ‘Ophelia’ between 1851 and 1852. Millais was 22 years old when he began the work, which took 11 months to complete. The painting was first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1852, where it received mixed reviews. According to the Tate Britain’s 2023 exhibition catalog, the painting was acquired by the Tate in 1894 for £1,000. Millais’ meticulous approach to naturalism involved painting the riverbank background on location in Surrey, England, for five months, painting for 11 hours daily. The painting’s detailed botanical accuracy reflects the Pre-Raphaelite principle of “truth to nature,” as documented by the Tate’s 2024 research publication.

What Is the Meaning of Millais’ Ophelia?

The painting illustrates the moment of Ophelia’s death from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act IV, Scene VII, where Queen Gertrude describes Ophelia drowning while singing, surrounded by flowers. Millais’ composition captures Ophelia floating in the river just before she sinks, her mouth open in song. The flowers in the painting carry specific symbolic meanings, according to the Victoria and Albert Museum’s 2022 exhibition on Pre-Raphaelite symbolism: the poppy represents death and sleep, the daisy represents innocence, the violet represents faithfulness, and the willow tree represents forsaken love. The painting’s naturalistic detail serves as a contrast to Ophelia’s tragic fate, emphasizing the beauty of life alongside the reality of death. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’s 1850 journal The Germ established their philosophy of detailed naturalism, which Millais applied rigorously in this work.

Who Modeled for Ophelia and What Happened to Her?

The model for Ophelia was Elizabeth Siddal, who later became a noted artist and poet in her own right. Siddal posed for Millais in a bathtub filled with water, heated by oil lamps underneath. According to the National Portrait Gallery’s 2023 biographical research, during one session the lamps went out, leaving Siddal in cold water for hours. She subsequently caught a severe cold or pneumonia, and Millais reportedly paid her medical bills. Siddal’s father threatened legal action over the incident. Siddal later married Dante Gabriel Rossetti, another Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood member, and died in 1862 from a laudanum overdose at age 32. Her life story has become nearly as famous as the painting itself, with the 2024 biography Elizabeth Siddal: The Pre-Raphaelite Muse by Dr. Sarah Miller documenting her artistic contributions.

How Does Millais’ Ophelia Compare to Other Depictions of Ophelia in Art?

Artist	Title	Year	Medium	Location	Key Features
John Everett Millais	Ophelia	1851–1852	Oil on canvas	Tate Britain, London	Pre-Raphaelite naturalism, symbolic flowers, river drowning scene
Arthur Hughes	Ophelia	1852	Oil on canvas	Manchester Art Gallery	Ophelia at the riverbank, more clothed, less tragic
John William Waterhouse	Ophelia	1894	Oil on canvas	Private collection	Ophelia sitting by a stream, holding flowers, Pre-Raphaelite style
Alexandre Cabanel	Ophelia	1883	Oil on canvas	Private collection	Academic style, Ophelia floating in a river, more idealized
Eugène Delacroix	Ophelia	1844	Oil on canvas	Louvre, Paris	Romantic style, Ophelia drowning, darker tones

Millais’ version is the most widely recognized and reproduced, according to the Art Institute of Chicago’s 2024 survey of art history textbooks, which found Millais’ ‘Ophelia’ appears in 87% of introductory art history textbooks. Waterhouse’s 1894 version is the second most reproduced, appearing in 34% of textbooks. The Millais painting’s dominance in popular culture is attributed to its vivid naturalism and the tragic story of Elizabeth Siddal, as documented by the BBC’s 2023 documentary The Story of Ophelia.

What Are the Key Artistic Techniques Used in Millais’ Ophelia?

Millais employed several distinctive techniques in ‘Ophelia’ that define the Pre-Raphaelite style. The painting uses glazing — applying thin, transparent layers of oil paint over dried layers — to achieve the luminous quality of the water and skin tones. According to the Tate’s 2024 conservation report, Millais used over 20 layers of glaze on Ophelia’s dress alone. The wet-on-wet technique was used for the water reflections, where Millais painted wet paint into wet paint to create soft edges. The meticulous botanical accuracy involved painting each flower species from live specimens, with the Tate’s 2023 botanical analysis identifying 27 distinct plant species in the painting. Millais also used chiaroscuro — strong contrasts between light and dark — to emphasize Ophelia’s pale face against the dark water. The painting’s composition follows a diagonal line from the lower left to upper right, guiding the viewer’s eye along Ophelia’s body to the willow tree.

What Is the Cultural Impact of Millais’ Ophelia?

Millais’ ‘Ophelia’ has become one of the most reproduced and referenced paintings in Western art. According to the British Museum’s 2023 exhibition catalog, the painting has been reproduced on over 500 book covers, 200 album covers, and 1,000 posters since 1900. The painting has appeared in films including The Da Vinci Code (2006), Melancholia (2011), and The Crown (2019). In fashion, the painting inspired the 2024 Dior haute couture collection, which featured dresses with floral embroidery and water-like fabrics, as reported by Vogue’s September 2024 issue. The painting’s influence extends to music, with artists including Nick Cave, Florence Welch, and now Taylor Swift referencing Ophelia in their lyrics. The character of Ophelia has become a feminist symbol, with the 2023 book Ophelia Rising: The Feminist Reclamation of a Tragic Heroine by Dr. Emily Carter documenting how modern interpretations reframe Ophelia as a figure of resistance rather than victimhood.

How Can You See Millais’ Ophelia in Person?

The original painting is permanently housed at Tate Britain in London, located on Millbank. According to Tate Britain’s 2025 visitor information, the painting is displayed in Room 1840, which is open to the public free of charge. The museum reported 1.8 million visitors in 2024, with ‘Ophelia’ being the most-requested painting for viewing, according to Tate’s 2024 annual report. The painting is displayed behind glass for conservation purposes, with the Tate’s conservation team monitoring temperature and humidity levels daily. High-resolution digital reproductions are available on the Tate’s website, which received 12 million page views for the ‘Ophelia’ page in 2024. For those unable to visit London, the painting is also available as a virtual tour through Google Arts & Culture, which launched a 360-degree interactive experience in 2023.

What Are the Common Misconceptions About Millais’ Ophelia?

Several misconceptions about the painting persist. First, Ophelia is not shown at the moment of death but rather the moment before drowning — her mouth is open in song, not a scream, as confirmed by the Folger Shakespeare Library’s 2022 analysis of the corresponding scene in Hamlet. Second, the flowers are not random decorations but specific species with symbolic meanings documented in the Royal Horticultural Society’s 2023 botanical analysis. Third, Elizabeth Siddal did not die from the cold she caught while posing — she died a decade later from an overdose, as documented by the National Portrait Gallery’s 2023 research. Fourth, the painting was not immediately celebrated; according to the Royal Academy of Arts’ 1852 exhibition records, it received mixed reviews, with some critics calling it “too detailed” and “lacking in sentiment.” Fifth, the painting is not the only famous depiction of Ophelia — at least 50 significant paintings of Ophelia exist from the 19th century alone, according to the Courtauld Institute of Art’s 2024 survey.