John Everett Millais, Ophelia, ca.
At just eleven years old, he became the youngest student admitted to the prestigiousRoyal Academy Schools.
Mignon Nevada as Ophelia, glass negative photograph, ca.
John Everett Millais, “Ophelia,” ca. 1851 (Photo:Google Art Project[Public Domain])
While her mermaid-like skirts initially kept her afloat, they soon become heavy with their drink.
As she sinks, she softly sings to herself, until she meets her tragic muddy death.
The flies of Surrey are more muscular, and have a still greater propensity for probing human flesh .
William Holman Hunt, “Sir John Everett Millais,” 1853 (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public Domain])
Elizabeth Siddal, Millais' nineteen-year-old model, did not have it any easier.
Playing the part of a drowning Ophelia, however, proved to be a particularly challenging task.
(Millais famously paid her medical bills at her father’s demand.)
Mignon Nevada as “Ophelia,” glass negative photograph, ca. 1910 (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public Domain])
The willow, nettle, and daisy are associated with forsaken love, pain, and innocence.
Pansies refer to love in vain.
The poppy signifies death.
John Everett Millais, Study for “Ophelia,” 1852 (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[Public Domain])
Forget-me-nots float in the water.
Detail of ‘Ophelia'
