Which painter created the Ophelia artwork referenced by Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl cover?

John Everett Millais created the Ophelia painting referenced by Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl cover.

Millais’s Ophelia is an early-1850s painting inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It shows Ophelia floating in a stream shortly before her death, making it one of the best-known Victorian images connected with the character.

Swift’s cover echoes the painting through its water setting and submerged pose, but it is not a reproduction of Millais’s artwork. The cover reworks the visual idea into a glamorous, contemporary showgirl image.

The album’s opening song also refers to Ophelia. That connection links the cover, the title “The Fate of Ophelia,” and the album’s larger themes of fame, vulnerability, and self-preservation.