APOLLO AND DAPHNE | 1622-1625 | by GIAN LORENZO BERNINI

GIAN LORENZO BERNINI's "APOLLO and DAPHNE" sculpture is a masterpiece of the Baroque era that captures the dramatic moment of transformation from DAPHNE into a laurel tree.

The life-sized marble sculpture depicts the climactic scene from OVID'S Metamorphoses, where the god APOLLO pursues the nymph DAPHNE, who pleads to her father, the river god, to transform her to escape APOLLO'S advances. BERNINI'S technical virtuosity is on full display as he masterfully renders the transition from DAPHNE'S human form to the emerging laurel leaves and branches

The sculpture's dynamic composition and sense of movement create a cinematic effect, as if the viewer is witnessing the metamorphosis unfold before their eyes. BERNINI'S use of twisting, undulating forms, and the contrast between the smooth, sensual flesh of DAPHNE and the rougher textured bark of the tree heighten the drama and emotional intensity of the scene

The work's innovative narrative approach and BERNINI'S mastery of the medium have cemented "APOLLO AND DAPHNE" as one of the most celebrated and influential sculptures of the BAROQUE period. Its enduring impact can be seen in the way it has inspired and influenced generations of artists, solidifying BERNINI'S reputation as a true master of the sculptural form.

On The Fear Of Love (And Loneliness).

Excerpt from Osamu Dazai’s “No Longer Human” / “The Reluctant Bride” by Auguste Toulmouche / Excerpt from “Red Doc>” by Anne Carson / “Apollo and Daphne” by John William Waterhouse / “First Love/Late Spring” by Mitski / “It’ll Pass” by Lilli (Ratsandlillies) / “The Archer” by Taylor Swift / Scene from Little Women (2019) Dir. Greta Gerwig / “Hunger” by Florence + The Machine

apollo using the leaves of the laurel tree, of daphne’s tree, daphne who had ran so, so far to get away from him, who had begged her father to do anything to save her, who had even still shrunk away from his embrace after she had turned into the tree, is something so evil + rotten to me.

after her clear “no”, emphasised over and over again, after her desperation to escape him, he then uses her leaves and bark to “honour her” in a way that ensures she can never be free of him, must always be touching him, brought with him wherever he goes, part of his “glory” + “victory”.

even after a kind of “death”, even after trying so hard to outrun him that she gives up her life + dreams + family, by doing the only thing she now can, he doesn’t let her go. and now, not only does he have her, but she can’t refuse:

she can’t say “no”, and she can’t pull away.

she can’t even speak.

Daphne....

Apollo and Daphne – Francesco Trevisani // The Feminine Urge – The Last Dinner Party

suggested by anon 💛

Apollo and Daphne

Jean-Étienne Liotard, 1736

From the collection of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Apollo and Daphne

Apollo and Daphne by Gian Bernini, 1622

— Hirohiko Araki on how he developed his signature art style, from his book Manga in Theory and Practice (x, x, x)

laurel leaves + daphne and apollo

▪︎ Apollo and Daphne.

Place of origin: Vienna

Date: before 1688

Artist/Maker: Jakob Auer (ca. 1645 Haimingersberg - 1706 Grins)

Medium: Ivory

Apollo in Love

Ovid, Metamorphoses I.512-524

“But ask after whom it is you please: I am no mountain-dweller, I’m no shepherd; I do not, hairy, keep watch here over herds And flocks. Rash one, you do not know, you do not, Whom you flee, and that is why you flee. The Delphic land obeys me, Claros too, And Tenedos, and the palace of Patara; Jupiter’s my father; through me’s revealed What will be, what has been, and what now is; Through me songs make their harmony with strings. My arrow’s sure, but there’s one arrow surer, Which has made a wound within my empty breast. Medicine’s my discovery, and I’m called Help-Bringer throughout the world – the power of herbs Has been set under me…alas for me, That love cannot be cured by any herbs, Nor are the arts that are a boon to all Any boon to him who is their lord!”

"Cui placeas, inquire tamen. Non incola montis, non ego sum pastor, non hic armenta gregesque horridus observo. Nescis, temeraria, nescis quem fugias, ideoque fugis. Mihi Delphica tellus et Claros et Tenedos Patareaque regia servit, Iuppiter est genitor; per me quod eritque fuitque estque patet; per me concordant carmina nervis. Certa quidem nostra est, nostra tamen una sagitta certior, in vacuo quae vulnera pectore fecit. Inventum medicina meum est, opiferque per orbem dicor, et herbarum subiecta potentia nobis: ei mihi, quod nullis amor est sanabilis herbis nec prosunt domino, quae prosunt omnibus, artes.”

Apollo and Daphne, Piero del Pollaiolo, 1470s

Whenever I try to build a timeline about apollo (I tried twice, but still), I just feel like like Hyacinthus was one of his lasts

Like, Hyacinthus, then Daphne, and then we never heard about his love stories until pjo

And there IS a version of the story where Hyacinthus came back to life

I'm just saying, what if they still together? What if they got the happy ending they deserve?

Kristin Kwan, Daphne, oil on panel, 2018.

André Quellier Apollo and Daphne 1997