The image of Ophelia was in part an inspiration for the 2011 Lars Von Trier film Melancholia.
:(, this is one of the ones I was writing a huge description on... I'll just post my research here.
Ophelia is a character in Hamlet.
Long story short, she goes crazy after discovering Hamlet, her betrothed (who is acting crazy to see what his enemies will do), killed her father (by accident, thinking he was someone else - but she doesn't know that). Then, she's walking around a forest in shock, unable to comprehend the horrible events, singing these songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcmN1zBSf4c. A few scenes later Gertrude said she drowned, and they're not sure if it was a suicide or accidental.
In the painting she is laying down in the water, either still singing or recently dead (depending on your interpretation).
This is another work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood - a group of British painters that rejected the at-the-time notion to follow Raphael's prolific output. They thought it was formulaic and made for dull paintings. They were basically the emo kids of the mid-1800s art world. They thought only the most dramatic subjects should be painted, and detail should be given to stuff like the background - Raphael largely ignored anything but the main subjects of the painting.
In this painting you can see a lot of time was spent on the trees and flowers surrounding her.
Compare that with Raphael's most famous work:
There's a background and some foreground, but it's in service of the main characters -who are the only elements with bright colors. Ophelia seems to be inseparable from the other elements in the painting, and the flowers around her are brightly colored.
The Pre-Raphaelites were also a precursor to the Impressionists, who would pop on the scene 20 years later in France.
The plants, most of which have symbolic significance, were depicted with painstaking botanical detail. The roses near Ophelia's cheek and dress, and the field rose on the bank, may allude to her brother Laertes calling her 'rose of May'. The willow, nettle and daisy are associated with forsaken love, pain, and innocence. Pansies refer to love in vain. Violets, which Ophelia wears in a chain around her neck, stand for faithfulness, chastity or death of the young, any of which meanings could apply here. The poppy signifies death. Forget-me-nots float in the water. [2]
Elizabeth Siddal posed for hours in a tub while Millais painted. She stayed, motionless despite the oil lamps keeping the water warm burning out, and she nearly died from the resulting illness (that's the story, but she also seemed like a sickly person that may have had tuberculosis). Siddal was a model for many of the Brotherhood, and eventually married one. She later died from overdosing pain meds before it was cool (although it may have been a suicide).
Here's a more extreme version of a Pre-Raphaelite background I was talking about earlier:
See how the main characters are the center of the painting's attention, but almost no one else is paying attention to them. There seems to be something going on stage right. Note: it also has Siddal as a model.
Oh wow, that is a lot of research! Sorry. If you want me to paste it into the description I can?
No worries. It was daunting trying to tie it up. I'm actually kinda releaved. I had worked on it for like 2 weeks and still had no ending in sight. So I'm glad to dramatically summarize here. It's probably how I should write these anyway.
Wow really cool dimensionality. I can see the planes.
A little claustrophobic actually
Wander the gallery. Look at the art. Be polite. If you feel able please post some great art :)
