This 1843 lithograph depicts the drowning of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act IV, Scene VII, an offstage death recounted by Queen Gertrude as Ophelia, undone by grief and Hamlet's rejection, slips beneath the water while gathering flowers. It belongs to Delacroix's series of Hamlet lithographs, begun in 1834 and issued as a set of thirteen prints in 1843, later expanded to sixteen in a second edition of 1864. Delacroix returned to Ophelia's death more than once over his career, and though the Hamlet suite was received coolly at first, it is now regarded as one of his most significant achievements in printmaking.
Jacquard-woven as a soft, double-sided tapestry throw with fringed edges — a warm layer for the sofa or bed.
