Ophelia from Shakespeare’s Hamlet was a favorite subject of the group of mid-nineteenth-century British artists who called themselves the Pre-Raphaelites. Arthur Hughes shows a melancholy Ophelia gathering flowers to hang on the willow tree; she will soon slip into the stream and drown.
Did you know? Hughes includes the same flowers and plants that Shakespeare chose for their symbolic meanings. The willow stood for sadness and forsaken love; the daisy, for innocence; and the violets around Ophelia’s wrist, for faithfulness. Hughes adds a significant flower not mentioned by Shakespeare: red poppies, symbolizing death.
The Crowning of Saint Catherine is the anchor painting of the museum’s Great Gallery. The artist, Peter Paul Rubens, was one of the most successful and sought-after artists of seventeenth-century Europe and hailed as “the god of painters.”
Did you know? When Jewish businessman Albert Koppel fled Nazi Germany in 1934, he was forced to leave behind much of the collection he had recently inherited from his father, including The Crowning of Saint Catherine. Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering stole the Rubens painting for his personal estate. After Berlin fell to Allied forces, US soldiers found the painting rolled up in a salt mine in Austria. Thanks to the Monuments Men and Women, it was returned to Koppel, who eventually sold it. In 1950 the Toledo Museum of Art acquired the work under the leadership of Otto Wittmann, himself a former Monuments Man.
You can explore more about the painting with TMA’s Google Arts & Culture story.
Image 1: Arthur Hughes (British, 1832–1915), Ophelia (“And He Will Not Come Back Again”). Oil on canvas, about 1865. 37 1/4 × 23 1/8 in. (94.6 × 58.7 cm). Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1952.87. On view in Gallery 32 until December 14.
Image 2: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640), The Crowning of Saint Catherine. Oil on canvas, 1631 or 1633(?). 104 5/8 × 84 5/8 in. (265.7 × 214.9 cm). Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1950.272. On view in the Great Gallery (Gallery 36) until December 14.
Image 1 Description: The painting portrays a young woman standing by a large willow tree, reaching up into the branches with her right arm. She is seen from the back and left side but turns her head to look out at the viewer. She has long, flowing red hair adorned with small flowers and is wearing an elaborate, off-shoulder yellow gown with delicate lace details. Her expression is melancholic, and she holds a bouquet containing daisies, poppies, and other flowers. Violets can be seen around her wrist. The setting is lush with greenery, and in the background there is a glimpse of a dark stream surrounded by reeds and flowers.
Image 2 Description: A large vertical painting of a Christian scene that depicts the Virgin Mary seated at the center, wearing a red robe and holding the infant Jesus on her lap. He reaches out with a laurel crown toward Saint Catherine. Catherine, dressed in a white gown, kneels at Mary’s feet holding a palm branch, a symbol of martyrdom. To the left, Saint Apollonia stands, clad in a dark dress with gold accents, holding a pair of iron pincers. On the right, Saint Margaret is depicted wearing an elegant blue dress with a small, dog-like dragon at her feet. Cherubs holding flowers and lightning bolts hover above the women. The background features an architectural element resembling a garden arch adorned with flourishing roses.
