Millais's 'Ophelia' Model Nearly Died in Freezing Bathtub

In a recent series by Beaux Arts Magazine, journalist Malika Bauwens explores ten art-related questions, including the near-fatal consequences of posing for John Everett Millais's iconic painting 'Ophelia' (1851–1852). The model, Elizabeth Siddal, a poet, painter, and muse for the Pre-Raphaelites, spent months posing in a bathtub filled with cold water while wearing an antique silver-embroidered dress. Oil lamps beneath the tub kept the water warm, but during one long session, the lamps went out unnoticed by the absorbed Millais. Siddal, displaying remarkable dedication, remained still in the freezing water. She subsequently fell seriously ill, with sources describing symptoms between flu and pneumonia, and treated herself with laudanum, an opium tincture common in Victorian England. Her father, alarmed, hired a private doctor and threatened legal action against Millais, who paid the full medical fees. The incident, widely discussed in correspondence among Millais, Rossetti, and their circle, left Siddal with lifelong fragile health. Some historians suggest tuberculosis, eating disorders, or the cumulative effects of laudanum addiction. Siddal died in 1862 at age 32 from an overdose, ten years after the posing sessions. The painting, now at Tate Britain in London, remains a masterpiece of Pre-Raphaelite art.