Taylor Swift: Your song triggers a rush of visitors in Wiesbaden

The opening scene in the video of Taylor Swift’s current number one hit “The Fate of Ophelia” has brought an unexpected increase in visitors to the Wiesbaden State Museum.

Last weekend there were hundreds of additional guests at the museum, and one family came especially from Hamburg, says spokeswoman Susanne Hirschmann. The Swifties’ goal: an Art Nouveau painting of Ophelia, Hamlet’s lover in Shakespeare’s work of the same name.

In the opening scene of the video for the song “The Fate of Ophelia,” Swift takes on the role of Ophelia and becomes a living painting.

According to the museum, it is not officially known which motif served as a template for the video. However, the direct comparison shows a great similarity to the work of the Art Nouveau painter Friedrich Heyser (1857-1921) from the collection of the Wiesbaden Museum, says museum director Andreas Henning. The pose, the white robe and also the background were inspired by the work of art.

“We are surprised and happy that Taylor Swift used this painting from the Wiesbaden Museum as a model in her video,” says Henning. “This is of course a great opportunity to introduce people to the museum who don’t yet know us.”

There were already many Swifties in the museum and they treated art with great respect. The museum has already tried to contact the singer – unfortunately so far without success, says Henning. “I would like to show Taylor Swift the original painting.”