Some of Taylor Swift’s most loyal fans descended on the art world in droves to catch a glimpse of a painting she referenced in her new music video for the song “Ophelia’s Fate,” released off her latest album. showgirl life.
Although initially more attention was focused on the paintings of the better known John Everett Millais Ophelia (1851-52) In the collection of London’s Tate Gallery, the singer directly highlights different versions of this famous story at the beginning of her music video.
In the opening scene, viewers can see Swift playing Ophelia in a framed painting that more closely resembles a painting by Art Nouveau painter Friedrich Hesse Ophelia (c. 1900), now in the State Museum Wiesbaden, Germany. Her white dress, pose and background all mimic the original. As a result, the museum welcomed hundreds more visitors last weekend.
“We are surprised and delighted that Taylor Swift chose this painting from the Wiesbaden Museum as a model for her video,” museum director Andreas Henning told us monopol. “Of course, it’s a great opportunity to introduce the museum to people who don’t know us yet.”
It’s unclear why Swift chose this particular version instead of other descriptions. The entire video is peppered with numerous other references, including an ending shot that recalls previous album covers that have been compared to Millay’s paintings.
The track “The Fate of Ophelia” refers to the tragic ending of a character in William Shakespeare’s play village. In the play, Hamlet accidentally kills Ophelia’s father, causing her to break up with her lover. She was immersed in grief and eventually committed suicide by drowning herself in a river. Swift, for her part, attempted to recreate that narrative in the song.
