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Apollo and Daphne is a life-sized marble sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, which was executed between 1622 and 1625. It is regarded as one of the artistic marvels of the Baroque age. The statue is housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, along with several other examples of the artist's most important early works. The sculpture depicts the climax of the story of Apollo and Daphne (Phoebus and Daphne), as written in Ovid's Metamorphoses, wherein the nymph Daphne escapes Apollo's advances by transforming into a laurel tree.
Apollo and Daphne was the last of a number of important works commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese from Gian Lorenzo Bernini that helped to define Baroque sculpture. Thereafter, Bernini served a succession of popes. Apollo and Daphne was commissioned after Borghese had given an important work of his patronage, Bernini's The Rape of Proserpina (1621-22), to Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi.[1] Through this generous gesture, Borghese hoped to ingratiate himself to the favored nephew of the new pope, Gregory XV.[2]
Much of the early work on Apollo and Daphne was done in 1622–23, but Bernini's work on his sculpture of David (1623-24) interrupted its completion. Bernini finished Apollo and Daphne in 1625,[3] and it was moved to the Cardinal's Villa Borghese in September of that year.[4] Bernini did not execute the sculpture entirely by his own hand. As was the common practice at that time, he had help from his workshop. Giuliano Finelli, who was a very gifted sculptor, undertook the finer details that show Daphne's conversion from human to tree, such as the twigs and leafs springing from her hands, and her windswept hair.[5] Some art historians, however, discount the importance of Finelli's contribution, since he was merely realizing Bernini's creative vision.[6]Apollo and Daphne's enthusiastic reception began as soon as the work was unveiled.[3]
DescriptionEdit
After a lengthy pursuit, Apollo thinks he has finally caught Daphne. He has a hand on what he thinks is her hip, but her flesh is already turning into the bark of a tree. Apollo's billowing drapes convey the speed with which he has given chase.[2]
While the sculpture may be appreciated from multiple angles, it was designed with a front side and a back side. Bernini planned for it to be viewed slightly from the right, where the work would have been visible from the doorway where it was located.[7] Viewing the sculpture from this angle allowed the observer to see the reactions of Apollo and Daphne simultaneously, and thus to understand the narrative of the story in a single instant, without the need to move position.[8]
When viewed from the left, neither face and little of Daphne's body is visible. Instead, we see a tangle of hair and we can readily see the structural braces that Bernini built into the sculpture: "the carefully designed solid, interlinking forms that connect and support one another."[2] From the right side, however, many details seem to be "impossibly light and fragile."[2] Ultimately, however, the sculpture was moved to the middle of the room, where it can be seen from all angles.[9]
Like Bernini's 1622 sculpture The Rape of Proserpina, Apollo and Daphne has a cartouche with a moral aphorism by Pope Urban VIII. Attributing Christian moral value to a pagan subject was a way of justifying the statue's presence in the Borghese villa.
When Phoebus (Apollo), fated by Cupid's love-exciting arrow, sees Daphne, 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.[10]
Yet Phoebus lost none of his passion for Daphne:
Even like this Phoebus loved her and, placing his hand against the trunk, he felt her heart still quivering under the new bark. He clasped the branches as if they were parts of human arms, and kissed the wood. But even the wood shrank from his kisses, and the god said:
"Since you cannot be my bride, you must be my tree! Laurel, with you my hair will be wreathed, with you my lyre, with you my quiver. You will go with the Roman generals when joyful voices acclaim their triumph, and the Capitol witnesses their long processions. You will stand outside Augustus's doorposts, a faithful guardian, and keep watch over the crown of oak between them. And just as my head with its uncropped hair is always young, so you also will wear the beauty of undying leaves."
Paean had done: the laurel bowed her newly made branches, and seemed to shake her leafy crown, like a head giving consent.[11]
Critical receptionEdit
It is difficult to overstate the importance and the immediate effect of the statues that Bernini made for Scipione Borghese: "Bernini proved that he could make images that dazzled visually, told a story with high drama, and aroused powerful sentiments. These acclaimed statues had qualities the church was seeking, and they helped propel Bernini on his path to become the chief visual propagandist of the Counter-Reformation, and the single most important creator of Baroque Rome."[2] Since his work was so synonymous with the Baroque, Bernini's critical fortunes often rose and fell with those of the Baroque in general.
Appreciation for Apollo and Daphne continued, sometimes surviving the decline of Bernini's reputation after his death. A French traveler in 1839 commented that the group is "astonishing both for mechanism of art and elaborateness, is full of charm in the ensemble and the details."[12] One 19th-century literary journal considered it the only Bernini work worthy of lasting praise.[13] Others were less positive. An English travel writer in 1829 noted Bernini's technical skill but added that the sculpture "bears all the want of judgment, taste, and knowledge of that age", going on to criticize the appearance of Apollo for being too like a shepherd and not enough like a god.[14]
More recent historians have been much more positive. Robert Torsten Petersson calls it "an extraordinary masterpiece ... suffused with an energy that works out of the tips of the laurel leaves and Apollo's hand and drapery."[15] C.D. Dickerson III says The Rape of Proserpina,David, and Apollo and Daphne are “widely considered the high points of Bernini’s entire career — and even of all seventeenth century sculpture.”[16]
^ abcdeCordova, Ruben C. (February 8, 2021). "Apollo and Daphne: A Tale of Cupid's Revenge Told by Ovid and Bernini". Glasstire. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
Mormando, Franco (2011). Bernini: His Life and His Rome. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN978-0-22-653852-5.
Ovid. Metamorphoses, Books I-IV. Translated by John Allen Giles. London: Cornish & Sons.
Ovid (1922). Metamorphoses, Book I, vi. Translated by Brookes More. Boston: Cornhill Publishing Co.
Petersson, Robert Torsten (2002). Bernini and the Excesses of Art. Fordham Univ Press. ISBN978-88-87700-83-1.
Pinton, Daniele (2009). Bernini: I percorsi dell'arte (in Italian). ATS Italia Editrice. ISBN9788875717773.
Valery, Antoine Claude Pasquin (1839). Historical, Literary, and Artistic Travels in Italy: A Complete and Methodical Guide for Travellers and Artists. Baudry. p. 596.
"Walks in Rome and its Environs No. XVII". The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal. 25 (99): 275–282. March 1829.
Wittkower, Rudolf (1955). Gian Lorenzo Bernini: The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque. London: Phaidon Press. ISBN9780714837154.
Welborn, Braden (2005-12-01). "Bernini's Apollo and Daphne From Behind". Prairie Schooner. 79 (4): 58. doi:10.1353/psg.2006.0049. ISSN 0032-6682. S2CID 71365334.
Further readingEdit
External video
Smarthistory - Bernini's Apollo and Daphne
Barolsky, Paul. "Ovid, Bernini, and the Art of Petrification". Arion 13, no. 2 (1 October 2005): 149–162. JSTOR 29737267.
Bolland, Andrea. "Desiderio and Diletto: Vision, Touch, and the Poetics of Bernini's Apollo and Daphne". The Art Bulletin 82, no. 2 (1 June 2000): 309–330. doi:10.2307/3051379.
Kenseth, Joy. "Bernini's Borghese Sculptures: Another View". The Art Bulletin 63, no. 2 (1 June 1981): 191–210. doi:10.2307/3050112.
Wilkins, Ann Thomas. "Bernini and Ovid: Expanding the Concept of Metamorphosis". International Journal of the Classical Tradition 6, no. 3 (1 December 2000): 383–408. doi:10.1007/s12138-000-0003-5.
External linksEdit
3D Model of Apollo and Daphne
Image of Sculpture on Web Gallery of Art
Media related to Apollo and Daphne (Bernini) at Wikimedia Commons
October 27, 2023
apollo, daphne, bernini, help, expand, this, article, with, text, translated, from, corresponding, article, italian, february, 2017, click, show, important, translation, instructions, view, machine, translated, version, italian, article, machine, translation, . You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Italian February 2017 Click show for important translation instructions View a machine translated version of the Italian article Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 2 965 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Italian Wikipedia article at it Apollo e Dafne Bernini see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated it Apollo e Dafne Bernini to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation Apollo and Daphne is a life sized marble sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini which was executed between 1622 and 1625 It is regarded as one of the artistic marvels of the Baroque age The statue is housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome along with several other examples of the artist s most important early works The sculpture depicts the climax of the story of Apollo and Daphne Phoebus and Daphne as written in Ovid s Metamorphoses wherein the nymph Daphne escapes Apollo s advances by transforming into a laurel tree Apollo and DaphneArtistGian Lorenzo BerniniYear1622 1625 1622 1625 Catalogue18TypeSculptureMediumMarbleDimensions243 cm 96 in LocationGalleria Borghese RomePreceded byDavid Bernini Followed byBust of Antonio Cepparelli Contents 1 History 2 Description 3 Iconography 4 Critical reception 5 See also 6 References 6 1 Notes 6 2 Bibliography 7 Further reading 8 External linksHistory Edit nbsp Detail of the sculptureApollo and Daphne was the last of a number of important works commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese from Gian Lorenzo Bernini that helped to define Baroque sculpture Thereafter Bernini served a succession of popes Apollo and Daphne was commissioned after Borghese had given an important work of his patronage Bernini s The Rape of Proserpina 1621 22 to Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi 1 Through this generous gesture Borghese hoped to ingratiate himself to the favored nephew of the new pope Gregory XV 2 Much of the early work on Apollo and Daphne was done in 1622 23 but Bernini s work on his sculpture of David 1623 24 interrupted its completion Bernini finished Apollo and Daphne in 1625 3 and it was moved to the Cardinal s Villa Borghese in September of that year 4 Bernini did not execute the sculpture entirely by his own hand As was the common practice at that time he had help from his workshop Giuliano Finelli who was a very gifted sculptor undertook the finer details that show Daphne s conversion from human to tree such as the twigs and leafs springing from her hands and her windswept hair 5 Some art historians however discount the importance of Finelli s contribution since he was merely realizing Bernini s creative vision 6 Apollo and Daphne s enthusiastic reception began as soon as the work was unveiled 3 Description EditAfter a lengthy pursuit Apollo thinks he has finally caught Daphne He has a hand on what he thinks is her hip but her flesh is already turning into the bark of a tree Apollo s billowing drapes convey the speed with which he has given chase 2 While the sculpture may be appreciated from multiple angles it was designed with a front side and a back side Bernini planned for it to be viewed slightly from the right where the work would have been visible from the doorway where it was located 7 Viewing the sculpture from this angle allowed the observer to see the reactions of Apollo and Daphne simultaneously and thus to understand the narrative of the story in a single instant without the need to move position 8 When viewed from the left neither face and little of Daphne s body is visible Instead we see a tangle of hair and we can readily see the structural braces that Bernini built into the sculpture the carefully designed solid interlinking forms that connect and support one another 2 From the right side however many details seem to be impossibly light and fragile 2 Ultimately however the sculpture was moved to the middle of the room where it can be seen from all angles 9 Like Bernini s 1622 sculpture The Rape of Proserpina Apollo and Daphne has a cartouche with a moral aphorism by Pope Urban VIII Attributing Christian moral value to a pagan subject was a way of justifying the statue s presence in the Borghese villa Iconography EditMain article Daphne When Phoebus Apollo fated by Cupid s love exciting arrow sees Daphne 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 10 Yet Phoebus lost none of his passion for Daphne Even like this Phoebus loved her and placing his hand against the trunk he felt her heart still quivering under the new bark He clasped the branches as if they were parts of human arms and kissed the wood But even the wood shrank from his kisses and the god said Since you cannot be my bride you must be my tree Laurel with you my hair will be wreathed with you my lyre with you my quiver You will go with the Roman generals when joyful voices acclaim their triumph and the Capitol witnesses their long processions You will stand outside Augustus s doorposts a faithful guardian and keep watch over the crown of oak between them And just as my head with its uncropped hair is always young so you also will wear the beauty of undying leaves Paean had done the laurel bowed her newly made branches and seemed to shake her leafy crown like a head giving consent 11 Critical reception EditIt is difficult to overstate the importance and the immediate effect of the statues that Bernini made for Scipione Borghese Bernini proved that he could make images that dazzled visually told a story with high drama and aroused powerful sentiments These acclaimed statues had qualities the church was seeking and they helped propel Bernini on his path to become the chief visual propagandist of the Counter Reformation and the single most important creator of Baroque Rome 2 Since his work was so synonymous with the Baroque Bernini s critical fortunes often rose and fell with those of the Baroque in general Appreciation for Apollo and Daphne continued sometimes surviving the decline of Bernini s reputation after his death A French traveler in 1839 commented that the group is astonishing both for mechanism of art and elaborateness is full of charm in the ensemble and the details 12 One 19th century literary journal considered it the only Bernini work worthy of lasting praise 13 Others were less positive An English travel writer in 1829 noted Bernini s technical skill but added that the sculpture bears all the want of judgment taste and knowledge of that age going on to criticize the appearance of Apollo for being too like a shepherd and not enough like a god 14 More recent historians have been much more positive Robert Torsten Petersson calls it an extraordinary masterpiece suffused with an energy that works out of the tips of the laurel leaves and Apollo s hand and drapery 15 C D Dickerson III says The Rape of Proserpina David and Apollo and Daphne are widely considered the high points of Bernini s entire career and even of all seventeenth century sculpture 16 See also EditList of works by Gian Lorenzo BerniniReferences EditNotes Edit Hibbard 1990 p 38 a b c d e Cordova Ruben C February 8 2021 Apollo and Daphne A Tale of Cupid s Revenge Told by Ovid and Bernini Glasstire Retrieved March 23 2023 a b Pinton p 18 Wittkower 1955 p 240 Mormando 2011 p 45 Fenton 2000 p 94 Harris Ann Sutherland 2008 Seventeenth Century Art and Architecture Upper Saddle River NJ Pearson Education Inc Hibbard 1990 p 40 Harris Ann Sutherland 2008 Seventeenth Century Art and Architecture Upper Saddle River NJ Pearson Education Inc Ovid More Metamorphoses Book I Ovid Kline Metamorphoses Book I 1 Valery 1839 p 596 Campbell 1830 p 99 New Monthly Magazine 1829 p 276 Petersson 2002 p 80 Dickerson III C D 2012 Bernini Sculpting in Clay New York The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York ISBN 9781588394729 Bibliography Edit Avery Charles 1997 Bernini Genius of the Baroque London Thames and Hudson ISBN 9780500286333 Baldinucci Filippo 2006 1682 The Life of Bernini University Park Pennsylvania State University Press ISBN 9780271730769 Bernini Domenico 2011 1713 The Life of Giano Lorenzo Bernini University Park Pennsylvania State University Press ISBN 9780271037486 Campbell T January 1830 Remarks on Mr Flaxman s Lectures on Sculpture New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal 28 109 97 104 Dempsey Charles 2000 Inventing the Renaissance Putto Chapel Hill University of North Carolina ISBN 9780807826164 Fenton James 2000 Leonardo s Nephew Essays on Art and Artists University of Chicago Press ISBN 978 0 226 24147 0 Hibbard Howard 1990 Bernini London Penguin ISBN 978 0 14 193542 3 Mormando Franco 2011 Bernini His Life and His Rome Chicago University of Chicago Press ISBN 978 0 22 653852 5 Ovid Metamorphoses Books I IV Translated by John Allen Giles London Cornish amp Sons Ovid 1922 Metamorphoses Book I vi Translated by Brookes More Boston Cornhill Publishing Co Petersson Robert Torsten 2002 Bernini and the Excesses of Art Fordham Univ Press ISBN 978 88 87700 83 1 Pinton Daniele 2009 Bernini I percorsi dell arte in Italian ATS Italia Editrice ISBN 9788875717773 Valery Antoine Claude Pasquin 1839 Historical Literary and Artistic Travels in Italy A Complete and Methodical Guide for Travellers and Artists Baudry p 596 Walks in Rome and its Environs No XVII The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal 25 99 275 282 March 1829 Wittkower Rudolf 1955 Gian Lorenzo Bernini The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque London Phaidon Press ISBN 9780714837154 Welborn Braden 2005 12 01 Bernini s Apollo and Daphne From Behind Prairie Schooner 79 4 58 doi 10 1353 psg 2006 0049 ISSN 0032 6682 S2CID 71365334 Further reading EditExternal video nbsp Smarthistory Bernini s Apollo and DaphneBarolsky Paul Ovid Bernini and the Art of Petrification Arion 13 no 2 1 October 2005 149 162 JSTOR 29737267 Bolland Andrea Desiderio and Diletto Vision Touch and the Poetics of Bernini s Apollo and Daphne The Art Bulletin 82 no 2 1 June 2000 309 330 doi 10 2307 3051379 Kenseth Joy Bernini s Borghese Sculptures Another View The Art Bulletin 63 no 2 1 June 1981 191 210 doi 10 2307 3050112 Wilkins Ann Thomas Bernini and Ovid Expanding the Concept of Metamorphosis International Journal of the Classical Tradition 6 no 3 1 December 2000 383 408 doi 10 1007 s12138 000 0003 5 External links Edit3D Model of Apollo and Daphne Image of Sculpture on Web Gallery of Art nbsp Media related to Apollo and Daphne Bernini at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Apollo and Daphne Bernini amp oldid 1181173584, 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