Ophelia by John Everett Millais Postcard

This is a reproduction of “Ophelia”of 1852 by John Everett Millais. He was about twenty-two years old when he created this work. It depicts an episode from Shakespeare’s Hamlet in which Ophelia has drowned herself. The model was his the artist’s Elizabeth Siddal. Millais was a co-founder of the movement. He was a child prodigy and entered the Royal Academy Schools at the age of eleven in 1840. While in the schools he met William Hunt and Dante rossetti with whom he founded the Brotherhood in 1848 at the age of nineteen. His Christ in the House of his Parents drew him controversial attention within two years and English Art circle were divided in their opinions retgarding the new movement. He married the recently divorced wife of an art critic who defended the movement and this drew more controversy to the young Millais. In his later career he began to draw away from the Pre-Raphaelite style and approached more closely the manner of Joshua Reynolds and Velazquez. He entered the royal Academy of Arts in 1853 and in 1885 he was created a baronet by Queen Victoria. He died in 1896. This painting is an oil on canvas and measures 30 by 44 inches. It is in the Tate Gallery in London.