Sometimes, a single frame from a song can thrust a century-old artwork back into the global spotlight. Germany’s Museum Wiesbaden is experiencing an unexpected wave of visitors following the release of Taylor Swift’s latest music video. A museum spokesperson reported that 500 people visited over the weekend to see just one painting, directly attributing the surge to Swift’s video.
The artwork in question is Friedrich Wilhelm Theodor Heyser’s 1900 painting Ophelia. The piece depicts Shakespeare’s tragic heroine, lying in a flowing stream, dressed in a white gown. This image bears an uncanny resemblance to a scene in Swift’s video for “The Fate of Ophelia,” the lead single from her new album The Life of a Showgirl. In the video, Swift lies in water with an outstretched arm and downward gaze, mirroring the painting.
The video has garnered nearly 63 million views in nine days, making it YouTube’s top-trending music video. In it, Swift rises from the painting’s frame, stepping out as she sings, “You pulled me from my grave and saved my heart from Ophelia’s fate,” directly referencing the artwork. The album cover, showing Swift half-submerged underwater, also evokes John Everett Millais’ Ophelia from the Tate Museum in London.
Museum Wiesbaden, delighted by this unexpected attention, has extended an invitation to Swift to view the painting, though they’ve yet to receive a response. The event showcases how one of today’s biggest pop culture figures can effortlessly weave an art history reference into modern lyrics like “swear my allegiance to your hands, your team, your soul.”
Museum Details:
Artwork: Ophelia (1900), Friedrich Wilhelm Theodor Heyser
Venue: Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
Note: The museum added that Wiesbaden hosts a large U.S. military garrison, and some American guests visited over the weekend.
