Apollo and Daphne,
Gian Lorenzo #Bernini, 1622-1625
«Those who love chasing the joys of fleeting beauty
fills hands with leaves and picks bitter berries »

☞ Do you know…

‣ These above are the verses of Maffeo Barberini, then pope, which were placed at the base of the #sculpture to give the pagan subject a Christian moral meaning and thus justify its placement in Villa Borghese

‣ The scene depicted is taken from Ovid’s #Metamorphosis and tells about Apollo’s passionate love towards the nymph Daphne who, on the contrary, does not correspond it. Both characters experience distorted feelings because of the arrows fired by the #Cupid God: one to give birth to love, the other to drain it. Therefore Daphne is so frightened and asks her father Peneo, God of the river, to be transformed so as to escape Apollo.
Thus she becomes a #laurel tree that will remain forever sacred to the rejected God of the Sun

#Artgenderpics #Apollo #Daphne

#ApolloeDafne #art #arte #artlovers #artoftheday #daily #dailyart #joy #beauty #bittersweet #pope #nymphs #arrow #tree #movement #stories #storytelling #love #brokenheart #wonderful #museum #visit

⇒ Date: 1622–1625

⇒ Material: Marble

⇒ Dimensions: 243 cm (96 in)

⇒ Site: Galleria Borghese, Rome