Ophelia | Léopold Burthe | 1851 John Faed bathed in a soft

bathed in a soft

gestures toward the center of the composition

The painting features a solitary figure standing on a rocky outcrop

von Stuck’s guardian exudes an eerie

Ophelia | Léopold Burthe | 1851 John Faed bathed in a softAbout the artwork: Lopold Burthes Ophelia presents Shakespeares tragic heroine at the threshold between life and death, focusing on the moment described in Act IV, Scene VII of Hamlet, when Ophelia falls near the willow and is carried away by the water. Painted in 1851, the work reflects the nineteenth century fascination with Shakespearean tragedy and with fragile, psychologically charged female figures. Burthe, a French painter associated with