Apollo and Daphne. Apollo and Daphne is a life-sized Baroque marble sculpture by Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, executed between 1622 and 1625.
Housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, the work depicts the climax of the story of Apollo and Daphne in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The sculpture was the last of a number of artworks commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, early on in Bernini's career.
Apollo and Daphne was commissioned after Borghese had given an earlier work of his patronage, Bernini's The Rape of Proserpina, to Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi. Much of the early work was done in 1622-23, but a pause, quite possibly to work on the sculpture of David, interrupted its completion, and Bernini did not finish the work until 1625.
Indeed, the sculpture itself was not moved to the Cardinal's Villa Borghese until September 1625. 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.
Some historians, however, discount the importance of Finelli's contribution. While the sculpture may be appreciated from multiple angles, Bernini planned for it to viewed slightly from the right because the work would have been visible from the doorway where it was located. Viewing the sculpture f
Housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, the work depicts the climax of the story of Apollo and Daphne in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The sculpture was the last of a number of artworks commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, early on in Bernini's career.
Apollo and Daphne was commissioned after Borghese had given an earlier work of his patronage, Bernini's The Rape of Proserpina, to Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi. Much of the early work was done in 1622-23, but a pause, quite possibly to work on the sculpture of David, interrupted its completion, and Bernini did not finish the work until 1625.
Indeed, the sculpture itself was not moved to the Cardinal's Villa Borghese until September 1625. 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.
Some historians, however, discount the importance of Finelli's contribution. While the sculpture may be appreciated from multiple angles, Bernini planned for it to viewed slightly from the right because the work would have been visible from the doorway where it was located. Viewing the sculpture f
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