Belle 2

Ophelia

after the painting by Millais (1852).

I went to Art college in Kingston, London on the banks of a shallow, weedy and unremarkable river with the evocative name of Hogsmill. We were told in History of Art that Millais painted his famous picture further up-stream. Millais’ model was Elizabeth Siddal wife of his friend and fellow Pre-Raphaelite Rossetti. She was to die later of a laudanum overdose. Millais although now rehabilitated by the public is viewed with distaste by the Tate’s director Serota who has moved Millais’ statue to the rear of the building. My version was photographed in a torrent, the Flora, near Vulci on the borders of Tuscany - it does not look anything like the Hogsmill.

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