MILLAIS’S OPHELIA REVERSED EKPHRASTIC APPROACH OF SHAKESPEARE
MILLAIS’S OPHELIA REVERSED EKPHRASTIC APPROACH OF SHAKESPEARE

Summary/Abstract: In the opinion of Richard Altick “pictures from Shakespeare accounted for about one fifth – some 2,300 – of the total number of literary paintings recorded between 1760 and 1900.” A part of this large number of paintings illustrating Shakespeare’s plays, which represent works by British artists, have disappeared and our present knowledge of them comes solely from catalogues, reviews, and scattered references; yet, world-wide museums preserve a series of the most important artistic achievements based on Shakespeare and provide the necessary background for analyses of the influence of literature upon visual art. In the context of the preference manifested by the Victorian painters for Shakespeare’s work, the character of Ophelia gradually became a highly exploited subject, which resulted in a series of paintings that were hosted by the exhibitions of the Royal Academy, almost on a regular basis.

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