This is my absolute favorite painting from one of the tours I went to yesterday which was about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. One of the members of the brotherhood was John Everett Millais and he made this painting of Ophelia in 1851-2.
At that time, oil paint in tubes was quite new and it opened up many more possibilities when it came to painting outside. It took Millais four months to sit outside and paint all the green parts in the painting. Then he went back to the studio and hired a model for Ophelia. He bought the model an old wedding dress and put her in water. He tried to heat the water but it didn't always work, and she caught a really nasty cold. Her dad and Millais had some serious arguments about who should pay for her medical bills.
The painting is filled with symbols. Ophelia has a pink rose behind her ear, which is a symbol for virginity. The poppies stand for sleep, death and remembrance. The violets around her means love.
By the way, Ophelia is one of the characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet :)
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