Apollo and Daphne by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, at the Borghese Gallery in Rome

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, “Apollo and Daphne”

Carrara marble (243 x 115 cm) 1625

Apollo and Daphne This sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, depicts Apollo pursuing Daphne from Ovid's Metamorphoses (I, 452).

Apollo had mocked Cupid by saying that his bow was that of a child, while his own was that of a man.

Offended, little Cupid decides to take revenge by shooting two arrows at once, one causing love to blossom and the other causing it to be rejected.

Apollo is struck by the arrow oflove, while the nymph Daphne receives the one that rejects love.

Even before receiving this arrow, Daphne wanted neither love nor marriage, as she had declared to Peneus:

“Allow me, beloved father, to enjoy my virginity forever.”

Apollo and Daphne Hence the passionate drama of a Apollo, distraught with love, facing the beautiful Daphne, who flees from him.

He calls out to her, begs her, tells her who he is, declares his good intentions but to no avail, she continues to flee:

“The winds revealed her nakedness, their breath, coming at her from opposite directions, stirred her clothes and the light breeze blew her hair back; her flight further enhanced her beauty.

[…] The god and the virgin are carried away, one by hoper, and the other by fear.

The pursuer, carried by the wings of Love, is swifter and needs no rest; already he leans over Daphne's shoulders, his breath brushing the hair scattered across her neck.

She, at the end of her strength, has turned pale; broken by the fatigue of such a rapid flight, her gaze turned towards the waters of the Peneus: ”

Apollo and Daphne “Come, my father, she said, come to my aid, if rivers like you have divine power, deliver me from this overly seductive beauty through metamorphosis.”

“No sooner had she finished her prayer than a heavy torportook hold of her limbs; a thin bark surrounded her delicate breast; her hair, which grew longer, turned into foliage; her arms became branches, her feet, just now so agile, cling to the ground by roots unable to move; the top of a tree crowns her head; of her charms, only the brilliance remains.

Apollon cependant l"aime toujours; with his hand resting on the trunk, he can still feel the heart beating beneath the new bark; wrapping his arms around the branches that have replaced the nymph's limbs, he covers the wood with his kisses; but the wood rejects his kisses.

Then the god said: Well, he said, since you cannot be my wife, at least you will be my tree; forever you will adorn, O laurel, my hair, my zithers, my quivers.”
Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book I, 540, translation by Georges Lafaye. Folio Classique.

Apollo and Daphne Bernini captured the precise moment when Daphne begins to transform into a laurel tree, when the bark begins to cover her, when her feet begin to take root and branches sprout from her fingers while Apollo places a hand on her and still feels the heart beating of the young nymph with her terrified face.

This superb sculpture is perfectly balanced, light and full of movement, full of life, the marble vibrates, we see and feel the wind, we witness the transformation before Apollo's incredulous eyes.

Bernini shows all his talent here, and yet it is an early work.

The folds of Apollo's tunic and Daphne's dress are impressively realistic.

The softness of the flesh, which almost pulsates before us, as well as the transparency of the leaves and the flowing hair, are all elements that demonstrate Gian Lorenzo Bernini's complete mastery of marble.

Apollo and Daphne