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Apollo and Daphne

Apollo and Daphne is a marble sculptural group created in 1622 by Baroque artist Bernini for Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli-Borghese, who commissioned it to decorate his villa. The work remains there today and is regarded as one of the great artistic wonders of the Baroque period. It is now preserved in the Borghese Gallery in Rome, alongside several other major early works by the artist. The sculpture depicts the climactic moment of the story of Apollo and Daphne as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in which the nymph Daphne escapes Apollo’s advances by transforming into a laurel.

Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne marble sculpture showing Apollo lunging toward Daphne as she transforms into a tree.
Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne in the Galleria Borghese, capturing the dramatic moment of Daphne’s transformation.
1622 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Apollo and Daphne marble sculpture showing two figures in a dramatic pose, with Daphne transforming into a laurel tree.
Apollo and Daphne, the marble sculpture by Bernini, displayed in an ornate gallery setting.
June 2011 © · CC BY 2.0
Bernini\'s Apollo and Daphne sculpture showing Apollo reaching toward Daphne as she transforms into a laurel tree.
Apollo and Daphne by Bernini, shown in a sepia-toned photograph of the sculpture on its base.
© Rijksmuseum · CC0
Apollo and Daphne sculpture showing Daphne transforming into branches as Apollo looks on.
Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne captured in a dramatic moment of transformation, with Daphne’s arm and hair becoming leafy branches.
October 2012 © · CC BY-SA 3.0
Close-up of Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne marble sculpture showing Apollo facing Daphne as her hair and arm transform into leaves and branches.
A close-up of Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne, showing the moment Daphne turns into a laurel tree.
© · CC BY-SA 4.0

Identification

TitleApollo and Daphne
Typelife-sized marble sculptural group
StyleBaroque
Original titleApollo i Dafne

Creator

ArtistGian Lorenzo Bernini
Artist nationalityItalian
Artist life dates1598–1680
CollaboratorGiuliano Finelli
Collaborator originCarrara

Historical context

Part of commissionThe last of four sculptural groups commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese
Related works in commissionAeneas, Anchises and Ascanius; The Rape of Proserpina; David
Commissioned byCardinal Scipione Caffarelli-Borghese
Commissioned forthe cardinal's villa
Date of creation1622–1625

Discovery and provenance

Original placementVilla Borghese
Current locationGalleria Borghese, Rome
Installation date at current locationSeptember 1625

Physical characteristics

Height243 cm
Scalelife-size

Materials

Materialmarble

Technique

Assistant's contributionFinelli carved the foliage, roots, leaves springing from Daphne's hands, and her windswept hair

Appearance

Preferred viewing angleside view
Viewpoint effectFrom the side, Apollo's and Daphne's reactions can be seen simultaneously

Iconography and meaning

SubjectApollo and Daphne, the climax of the story in which Daphne escapes Apollo's advances by transforming into a laurel tree
Literary sourceOvid's Metamorphoses
SymbolismDaphne symbolizes unattainable love and virginity
Inscription at baseA cartouche at the base bears a moralizing couplet by Maffeo Barberini, later Pope Urban VIII
Inscription meaningWhoever loves and pursues the joys of fleeting beauty fills the hand with leaves and plucks bitter berries
Purpose of inscriptionTo give a Christian moral meaning to a pagan subject and justify the sculpture's presence in the Borghese collection

History and restoration

Completion dateAutumn 1625
New baseA new base with a second sculpted parchment in the form of an eagle, by Lorenzo Cardelli
Location changeAt the end of the 18th century, Antonio Asprucci moved the sculpture to the center of the room and installed it on a new base; the room became the Hall of Apollo and Daphne
Work interruptedSummer 1623
Work resumedApril 1624
Reason for interruptionBernini paused work to finish David after Cardinal Alessandro Peretti died and the commission passed to Cardinal Borghese
Work beganAugust 1622

Significance

NotabilityOne of Bernini's most famous works
Historical significanceConsidered one of the artistic wonders of the Baroque period and one of the works that helped define Baroque sculpture
ReceptionImmediately received an enthusiastic welcome and was celebrated as one of the young artist's most beautiful masterpieces
Later reputationIt remained highly regarded in Bernini's lifetime and was praised by later writers including Pierre Cureau de la Chambre, Filippo Baldinucci, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and Leopoldo Cicognara