5Apollo And Daphne By Bernini (Room III)

Bernini started working on this sculpture in 1622 under the commission of Scipione Borghese and he finally ended his work in 1625. Due to the combination of the details and motion with its fragility, this statue is considered one of his masterpieces and, with little argument, the masterpiece of the gallery. The statue is not only an incredible work of art because of its master sculpting but for the detailed story it tells as you walk around it—something you have to see for yourself. Legend has it that Apollo encountered Daphne and Eros (or Cupid) when he was walking through the woods. He began to mock Cupid (I imagine for his size), and eventually, cupid became frustrated and retaliated.

Modern society only describes Cupid’s good side: shooting golden arrows and helping people fall in love. Well, he also had lead arrows in his repertoire, and I bet you can guess what they did. He shot Apollo with a golden arrow and Daphne with a lead one. Apollo saw Daphne and immediately fell in love. Daphne saw Apollo and the lead arrow had the opposite effect. Apollo raced after Daphne through the forest madly in love. Daphne pleaded with her father, Penues the River God, to free her from Apollo. If you start from Apollo’s back right foot and walk around the statue counter-clockwise, you’ll see Daphne’s metamorphosis into a Laurel tree. The statue group was designed to be placed in the center of the room and be viewed in motion. Apollo, in turn, used his power of eternal youth and this is the reason that Laurel trees are evergreen!

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