Something is rotten in this presentation

THE ART OF HAMLET

Hamlet and the Ghost - by
Henry Fuseli (1741-1825)
This print of Fuseli's 1789 painting
depicts the scene (Act I, scene iv) in
which Horatio first brings Hamlet to see
the ghost of his father, the former King
of Denmark, who has been haunting the
gates of Elsinore. Fuseli created this
dramatic image of Hamlet following his
father's Ghost for Boydell's
Shakespeare Gallery, which opened in
London in 1789 and contained a
collection of paintings from Shakespeare
commissioned from the most important
artists of the day.
Hamlet and Ophelia - by
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
(1828-1882)
In this pen-and-ink drawing (1858),
Rossetti depicts the scene (Act III,
scene i) in which Ophelia attempts to
return to Hamlet the "remembrances" he
has given her. Critics have noted
Rossetti's masterful attention to detail in
this picture.

The Play-scene in Hamlet - by Daniel Maclise (1806-1870)
Ophelia - by Henrietta Rae
(1859-1928)
This engraving of the 1890 painting by
Henrietta Rae depicts the scene (Act IV,
scene v) in which Claudius and Gertrude
watch Ophelia who, mad with grief,
nonsensically recites the names of various
herbs and flowers including rue (a bitter
herb), rosemary, pansies, fennel,
columbine, daisies and violets, as she
scatters them about. Critics have noted the
interesting composition of this painting, split
almost perfectly in half between light and
dark. It has been suggested that this
perhaps symbolizes the chasm in Ophelia's
mind caused by her grief.
Ophelia - by Arthur Hughes
(1831-1915)
This painting by nineteen-year-old Arthur
Hughes was originally exhibited at the
Royal Academy in 1852. Though not the
first to employ a moonlit setting for this
scene, Hughes cleverly utilized the
moonlight in his painting to suggest the
disorder of Ophelia's psychological state.
He also suggested her status as a kind of
sacrificial victim by contriving to have the
vegetation in her hair stick out in spikes like
an improvised crown of thorns, leading
some critics to describe his Ophelia as a
"juxtaposition of childlike femininity and
Christian martyrdom."

Ophelia - by John Everett
Millais (1829-1896)
This Pre-Raphaelite painting by Sir John Everett
Millais depicts the tragic death of Ophelia as she
falls into the stream and drowns. Millais began
working on the painting in the summer of 1851,
painting the river and background by the river
Ewell near Kingston-Upon-Thames. His model,
Elizabeth Siddall, reportedly suffered "fleshy
mortifications" as she sat for the picture. The
painting was completed in London during the
following winter and shown at the Royal Academy
Exhibition in 1852. Although it was attacked by
critics who believed the background overwhelmed
Ophelia and diminished the pathos of the scene,
Millais' Ophelia has become one of the best-known
illustrations from Hamlet.