Portrait painting Stories

Sir John Everett Millais's 1851 masterpiece Ophelia was John's inspiration for his first foray into life painting. The thirty-year-old had persevered for a long time, enhancing his latent skills as an artist. From Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical studies to the expressive figures of the Pre-Raphaelites, Degas, and Lucian Freud, he had long wanted to use the female form to express his love of women. Ophelia, the tragic heroi...