7 × 12 Print Illustration (Frame not included)

Elizabeth Siddal, what a woman to behold. Not only a talented artist in her own right, but also the muse of countless artists of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. In 1851, Sir John Everett Millais asked the 22-year-old Elizabeth to model for his painting Ophelia. To capture the scene, he had her lie fully clothed in a bathtub in his London studio. It was winter, and though he placed oil lamps and candles beneath the tub to warm the water, he became so absorbed in his work that they often went out. Elizabeth caught pneumonia as a result and was prescribed laudanum to ease her symptoms. Over the years, she became increasingly dependent on the drug, which ultimately led to her tragic overdose at age 33.

In this drawing, I wanted to reimagine Ophelia by centering Elizabeth herself rather than the Shakespearean character. Here, she reclines in the bathtub within Millais’ studio, surrounded by elements that reference both the original painting and her personal story. I included flowers floating around her and candles burning low. The antique dress with silver embroidery, which Millais purchased for her to model in, gleams softly in the scene.

Subtle symbolism appears throughout: a painting on the wall features a poppy field, and a cypress tree rises behind her, both traditional emblems of death. Alongside them, ivy climbs the wall, a quiet symbol of immortality that nods to her being forever captured within the painting.

Although the setting is based on Millais’ studio, I embroidered E.S. on the towels to give Elizabeth a stronger presence in the space, reclaiming it as her own. While the real studio may have been far less whimsical than I’ve depicted, I chose to surround her with beauty, a tribute to her own.