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Ophelia's Death, plate 13 from Hamlet

A work made of lithograph in black on ivory china paper laid down on white wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of lithograph in black on ivory china paper laid down on white wove paper.

Date:

1843

Artist:

Eugène Delacroix
French, 1798-1863

About this artwork

In this lithograph from Eugène Delacroix’s Hamlet series, the haunted, bedraggled Ophelia dangles herself above a stream in the moments before her death. Delacroix imbued the rushing water with a sense of loose fluidity through his keen use of the medium. Although Ophelia’s death happens offstage, it is recounted in a moving speech by Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, who describes the drowning Ophelia as “incapable of her own distress”: “Her clothes spread wide, and mermaid-like, a while they bore her up.” In contrast to the text and most other images of the scene, here Ophelia clutches a tree branch with one arm, as if contemplating her own demise.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Eugène Delacroix

Title

Ophelia's Death, plate 13 from Hamlet

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1843

Medium

Lithograph in black on ivory China paper laid down on white wove paper

Dimensions

Image: 15.8 × 25.7 cm (6 1/4 × 10 1/8 in.); Sheet: 35.7 × 54.9 cm (14 1/16 × 21 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Albert H. Wolf Memorial Collection

Reference Number

1949.612m

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/142584/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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