“Apollo and Daphne” is a stunning marmoreal sculpture realized by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini between 1622 and 1625. At the moment, it is located in Galleria Borghese, Rome.
Myth
The work takes inspiration from the myth narrated by Ovid in the Metamorphoses and by the Roman author Apuleius, too. The story comes from Ancient Greece, where mythology first started to be part of literature (described by Parthenios di Nicaea).
The two protagonists of the myth are Apollo and Daphne. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto and he is recognized as the god of archery, sun (he is the god who brings the sun in the sky every day thanks to his chariot), medicine, music and poetry (he is in charge of the Muses of poetry, who are usually invoked in the introduction of poems that take inspiration from classical literature). Daphne is a naiad, nymph presiding over fountains, gardens and brooks and associated to spring.
[Little curiosity: "Daphne" is a name that can be translated in Latin as "Lauro". This is where the name "Laura" comes from.]
Apollo kills the serpent Python thanks to his archer skills and mocks the god of love, Eros (Cupid), because of his use of bow and arrow. Eros, offended by the god, swears revenge. Then, the insulted Cupid prepares two arrows: one of gold and one of lead. He shots Apollo with the gold arrow, instilling in the god a passionate love for Daphne. And yet, he shots Daphne with the lead arrow, instilling in her hate for Apollo.
Since Daphne dedicated herself to perpetual virginity, she is annoyed by the god’s attention. In fact, Apollo continually follows her, begging her to stay, but the nymph rejects him. During a chase in the wood, Daphne asks the help of her father Peneus (god of rivers) and mother Gaea (the Earth Mother). Begged by their daughter, the two parents turn her into a laurel tree.
Description
Bernini represents the scene full of pathos, in which Apollo lightly touches the nymph and she is transformed into a laurel tree. Apollo is amazed and confused at the same time because he doesn’t understand what is happening. He was so close to the woman he loved that he thought he reached her. Instead, he realises that what he desired for so long time is vanishing from his own hands. Meanwhile, Daphne feels his touch and rotates to escape from Apollo. She is screaming not because of the pain of the metamorphosis, but due to the astonishment. Her hands start to become the branches of the laurel and her hair is transformed into leaves. Her legs and her feet become the trunk and the roots of the tree.
Bernini was able to depict the scene in a very realistic way, even if it can’t be real for obvious reasons. He strictly follows what Ovid narrated in the first book of the Metamorphoses:
"Her soft chest is surrounded by thin bark, Leaves grow on her hair and branches on her arms, Her foot once ran fast and now is made by lazy roots"
The style of the artwork is characterised by the accentuated dynamism of the figures: Daphne is portrayed in torsion and Apollo is still moving to hug her with the wind in his hair and a raised leg. The two protagonists create a curve line that indicates the movement, starting from Apollo’s leg and finishing with Daphne’s hands. Moreover, Bernini was able to create the difference between the smooth skin of the figures and the roughness of the trunk.
Personal Interpretation
Thanks to this artwork, I would like to talk about women's freedom. Women have always been treated as they had no value and as men could do what they wanted with them. Ancient Greece is just one af many examples I can bring to your attention. Of course, I do not agree with it. The fact that Daphne has to run away from Apollo represents that we are usually seen as toys to men. They usually decide our destiny and our role in the world, but this is not fair at all because we are equal and we are at the same level. Daphne succeeds in escaping from Apollo (in a way that is not even fair because she has to give up her human life), but what if she couldn’t? We don’t have to shape our future depending on what other people want from us. We should be free to say "no" when we don’t want something. By the passing of time, women could take their revenge in society. Unfortunately, we still have to fight to gain our own rights, even if the Law already guarantees for us.
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L(&A)
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