Apollo and Daphne (Bernini)

Apollo and Daphne

Artist	Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Year	1622–25
Type	Marble
Dimensions	243 cm (96 in)
Location	Galleria Borghese, Rome

Apollo and Daphne is a life-sized Baroque marble sculpture by Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini executed 1622–25. Housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, the work depicts the climax of the story of Daphne and Phoebus in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

1 Commissioning
2 Execution and Placement
3 Iconography
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links

Commissioning [edit]

The sculpture was final of a number of artworks commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, early on in Bernini's career. Apollo and Daphne was commissioned once Cardinal Borghese had given an earlier work of his patronage, Bernini's Pluto and Persephone, to Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi. ^[1]

Execution and Placement [edit]

External video
Smarthistory - Bernini's Apollo and Daphne^[2]

Much of the early work was done in 1622-3, but a pause, quite possibly to work on the sculpture of David, interrupted its completion, and Bernini did not finish work until 1625. Indeed, the sculpture itself was not moved to the Cardinal's Villa Borghese until September 1625.^[3] Bernini did not execute the sculpture by himself; he had significant help from a member of his workshop, Giuliano Finelli, who undertook the sculpture of the details that show Daphne's conversion from human to tree, such as the bark and branches, as well as her windswept hair.^[4]

While the details of the sculpture and the heightened psychology of the figures allow the sculpture to be appreciated from multiple angles, Bernini planned for the sculpture to be viewed side on, allowing the viewer to see the reactions of Apollo and Daphne simultaneously, thus understanding the narrative of the story in a single instant, without the need to move position.^[5]

Iconography [edit]

When Phoebus (Apollo), fated by Cupid's love-exciting arrow, sees the maiden daughter of Peneus a river god, he is filled with wonder at her beauty and consumed by desire. But Daphne has been fated by Cupid's love-repelling arrow and denies the love of men. As the Nymph flees he relentlessly chases her—boasting, pleading, and promising everything. When her strength is finally spent she prays to her father Peneus:

'Destroy the beauty that has injured me, or change the body that destroys my life.' Before her prayer was ended, torpor seized on all her body, and a thin bark closed around her gentle bosom, and her hair became as moving leaves; her arms were changed to waving branches, and her active feet as clinging roots were fastened to the ground—her face was hidden with encircling leaves.^[6]

Phoebus loved the graceful tree, clung to it and kissed the wood:

But since thou canst not be my spouse surely thou shalt be my tree. Thee O laurel my hair, thee my lyres, thee my quivers shall always have ... And as my head is youthful with unshorn locks, do thou likewise wear always evergreen honours of foliage. The laurel nodded assent with its branches lately made^[7]

Reception [edit]

Bernini's sculpture captures Daphne's transformation with intense emotion and drama by portraying the different stages of her changes. The interlocking components create more narrative, reflecting foundations of Hellenistic Greek art. Moreover, the viewer, by moving entirely around the sculpture, gets to witness the story in action, thus making optimum use of the 360 degree capability that sculpture has over the two dimensions of painting. For this reason, "Apollo and Daphne" is one of the absolute masterpieces of Western Art and a must-see by visitors to Rome.

References [edit]

^ Hibbard, 48
^ "Bernini's Apollo and Daphne". Smarthistory at Khan Academy. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
^ Wittkower, 240
^ Mormando, 45
^ Hibbard, 53/4
^ Ovid. In Brookes More. Metmorphoses, Book I, vi. London: Cornish & Sons. Retrieved November 2011.
^ Ovid. In Rev Dr. Giles. Metmorphoses, Books I-IV. London: Cornish & Sons. Retrieved November 2011.

External links [edit]

Image of Sculpture on Web Gallery of Art

v t e Sculptural Works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

1610s	Bust of Giovanni Battista Santoni The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun A Faun Teased by Children Martyrdom of St. Lawrence St. Sebastian Bust of Pope Paul V Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius Bust of Giovanni Vigevano Damned Soul Blessed Soul

1620s	Bust of Carlo Antonio del Pozzo Neptune and Triton The Rape of Proserpina Apollo and Daphne Three Busts of Pope Gregory XV St. Peter's Baldachin Charity with Four Children David Fontana della Barcaccia Bust of Alessandro Peretti di Montalto St Bibiana Busts of Urban VIII Bust of Monsignor Pedro de Foix Montoya Bust of Cardinal Roberto Bellarmine Bust of Cardinal Giovanni Dolfin Bust of Cardinal Escoubleau de Sourdis Bust of Antonio Cepparelli Bust of Cardinal Melchior Klesl Two Angels in Sant'Agostino Bust of Francesco Barberini Bust of Antonio Barberini Bust of Camilla Barbadoni Bust of Maria Barberini Bust of Cardinal Francesco Barberini Busts of Cardinals Agostino and Pietro Valier Memorial to Carlo Barberini Tomb of Pope Urban VIII Saint Longinus Charity with Two Children

1630s	Head of Carlo Barberini Two Busts of Scipione Borghese Fontana del Tritone Tomb of Countess Matilda of Tuscany Pasce Oves Meas Bust of Costanza Bonarelli Busts of Paolo Giordano and Isabella Orsini Statue of Urban VIII Bust of King Charles I Bust of Thomas Baker Medusa

1640s	Bust of Cardinal Richilieu Tomb of Alessandro Valtrini Memorial to Ippolito Merenda Memorial to Maria Raggi Truth Unveiled by TIme Bust of Pope Leo X Ecstasy of Saint Teresa Raimondi Chapel Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi Busts of Innocent X Noli Me Tangere

1650s	Francesco I d'Este Fountain of the Moor Tomb of Cardinal Domenico Pimentel The Vision of Constantine Chair of Saint Peter Saints Jerome and Mary Magdalen Saint Barbara

1660s	Statue of Alexander VII Busts of Alexander VII Memorial Chapel of De Silva Family Elephant and Obelisk Bust of Gabriele Fonseca Bust of Louis XIV Equestrian Statue of King Louis XIV

1670s	Blessed Ludovica Albertoni Tomb of Pope Alexander VII Statue of Clement X