Ophelia

 

This piece was created by the English artist John Millais. He formed a part of the Pre-Raphaelites, who rejected Raphael’s painting techniques which included delicate details. They wanted to go back to the artistic conventions that came before him. The movement was against the industrialization during the era. Millais used Shakespeare’s Hamlet as an inspiration for this piece. Millais, like many of the Pre-Raphaelite artists went back to subjects that involved courtly love and chivalry, which originated during the middle ages. Certain elements of Millais’s Ophelia are reminiscent of Durer’s detail when depicting nature. The details of nature are extremely detailed in this piece because of the influences. Her face and hands are realistic yet her dress is painterly.

I picked this piece for a variety of reasons. The first is that Hamlet is one of my favorite Shakespearean plays. Secondly, I enjoy observing the transition of details and brush strokes in the piece, from extremely minute to painterly. Furthermore, the depiction of nature is intriguing to me. The piece is exhibited in the Tate Gallery located in London.