Bronze Sculpture of Maurice Bouval’s “Ophelia”

Maurice Bouval’s Ophelia, created circa 1900, pays homage to Sarah Bernhardt’s portrayal of the character in a 1886 production of Hamlet. In a pivotal moment of the play, Ophelia, amidst picking flowers, tragically slips into a stream. Consumed by sorrow following her father’s murder at the hands of her lover, Hamlet, she succumbs to the depths of the water. Bouval’s depiction of Ophelia is adorned with yellow pond lilies and opium poppies, a poignant nod to the scene where she clutches poppies as she meets her watery fate. The choice of poppies carries significant symbolism; tracing back to ancient Greek mythology, where they were associated with death. Legend has it that after the abduction of Demeter’s daughter, the goddess of harvest was given a poppy by the gods to induce sleep. From her footsteps, poppies bloomed.