Apollo and Daphne by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - 1744 - 96 x 79 cm Musée du Louvre Apollo and Daphne by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - 1744 - 96 x 79 cm Musée du Louvre

Apollo and Daphne

oil on canvas • 96 x 79 cm
  • Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - March 5, 1696 - March 27, 1770 Giovanni Battista Tiepolo 1744

Apollo and Daphne was a popular motif in classic art. The episode taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses describes the tragic story of the nymph Daphne, who, chased by Apollo and wanting to save her purity, transforms herself into a laurel tree. The inspiration here was certainly Bernini's sculpture of 1622-1624 on the same theme - now in the Borghesi Gallery in Rome - which Tiepolo knew from an engraving. The work is thus a color transposition of the baroque sculptor's celebrated piece.