Ophelia

Deep within a dense forest, dark green water with ominous water lilies floating on its surface, and a willow trunk extending over it.

Seated there is a beautiful maiden, her hair adorned with red poppies symbolizing death, and clad in a luxurious pure white dress.

This painting, depicting the heroine of Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, captures her 'final moment'.

Ophelia, whose father was killed by her lover Hamlet and who has lost her love, sinks into a world of madness at the end of deep despair.

While Millais' painting of Ophelia floating on her back in the river is famous, the painter Waterhouse depicted her 'just before falling into the water'.

However, there is no sense of tragedy in her profile as she stands on the brink of death.

Her hands gently touch her hair, her half-closed eyes are ecstatic, and her mind has already drifted far from the grim reality.

The stark contrast between the dark, somber background and her radiant white skin and dress, despite the desperate situation, holds a fantastical beauty, like a water spirit.

Escaping unbearable sorrow and madness, she quietly assimilates into nature. Even though it is just before the tragedy of taking her own life, this moment of tranquility might have been her only salvation.