Elizabeth Siddal’s Chaotic Medievalism

In this episode, doctoral researcher Nat Reeve unspools the spiralling weirdness in the art and poetry of Elizabeth Siddal (1829-1862). You might know Siddal as the face of Millais's Ophelia, but this episode explores her own creative work. We'll wander through some of her works, close reading relentlessly as we go, and trace how they reimagine compositions, retell stories and queer their medieval source material. If you've an interest in Pre-Raphaelite paintings, illuminated manuscripts, macabre ballads and a creative process best described as 'dismembering', the ensuing twenty minutes are decidedly for you.Music also by Nat Reeve, from Ophelia, a musical about the feral creative process behind the eponymous painting.Image © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.