Probably the most famous image of Ophelia. The model was Elizabeth Siddal, who posed for hours in a tub of water (it was supposed to be heated by lamps, but they probably went out at some point) and contracted pneumonia shortly thereafter. The meticulous detail in the nature scene surrounding her is often cited as a prime example of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's original ideals--which actually had little to do with the lushly romantic portrayals of women that soon became associated with the movement. This painting is just one reason Lizzie is often closely associated with the Ophelia image; she would later identify herself with the unfortunate maiden in her poem "A Year and a Day".	Ophelia John Everett Millais, 1852
Ophelia Arthur Hughes, c. 1851-53	Hughes' early Ophelia is among the most chilling, bleak images of her I've ever encountered. Strewn with wilted rushes rather than wildflowers, she seems barely in her teens and utterly bereft of hope...innocence destroyed. The lettering on the frame quotes Gertrude's description of Ophelia's fate in Act IV, Scene 7, beginning "There is a willow grows aslant a brook..."
A decade later, the same artist takes a prettier, more romantic approach to the subject. It's also a moment earlier--Hughes described this painting as Ophelia 'approaching the water and looking back at us, singing her last song.'	Ophelia Arthur Hughes, c. 1863-64
The First Madness of Ophelia Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1864	She had a special resonance for Rossetti, for his Ophelia--Lizzie, whom he had been courting at the time she posed for Millais' Ophelia, finally marrying her in 1860--had died two years before he painted this watercolor, of a laudanum overdose following a miscarriage and a bout with severe depression.
This is the only one on this page that I hadn't seen before I started gathering material for this project. I wasn't sure at first whether I liked it, partly because of the subdued colors (something one doesn't expect in a work associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement), and partly because at first glance it reminds me of me on a bad hair day! But it has its own charm, and it's grown on me.	Ophelia George Frederick Watts, 1880
Waterhouse is one my favorite artists, which tells you how much of a PRB purist I'm not. He painted her several times.
Ophelia John William Waterhouse, 1889	Study for Gather Ye Rosebuds (also known as Ophelia) John William Waterhouse, 1908
Ophelia John William Waterhouse, 1894	Ophelia John William Waterhouse, 1910

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