This isn’t just a myth.
It’s a mirror.
• Because it fails.
• Because it hurts.
Bernini sculpted a chase that ends in failure…
then lived one that ended in scandal.
He didn’t just imagine Apollo.
He became him.
Let me show you: 🧵👇
It’s a mirror.
• Because it fails.
• Because it hurts.
Bernini sculpted a chase that ends in failure…
then lived one that ended in scandal.
He didn’t just imagine Apollo.
He became him.
Let me show you: 🧵👇
In Greece, he’s Apollon: god of sun and poetry.
In Rome, Apollo: master of arts.
She’s Daphne (Greek: “laurel”) or Dafne (Roman).
Eros/Cupid shot two arrows: love for him, rejection for her. 📸:Abs
In Rome, Apollo: master of arts.
She’s Daphne (Greek: “laurel”) or Dafne (Roman).
Eros/Cupid shot two arrows: love for him, rejection for her. 📸:Abs
Apollo wanted her forever.
Daphne swore to stay free, devoted to Artemis/Diana, goddess of the hunt.
When he caught up, she cried to her father, Peneus, a river god.
Her escape wasn’t death,
—it was transformation. 📸:Abs
Daphne swore to stay free, devoted to Artemis/Diana, goddess of the hunt.
When he caught up, she cried to her father, Peneus, a river god.
Her escape wasn’t death,
—it was transformation. 📸:Abs
At 24, Bernini took a block of Carrara marble and froze that moment.
Made for Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1622-1625), it’s Baroque brilliance.
Daphne’s fingers sprout leaves. Her toes root into earth.
Marble turns into flesh—then bark—before your eyes. 📸:Abs
Made for Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1622-1625), it’s Baroque brilliance.
Daphne’s fingers sprout leaves. Her toes root into earth.
Marble turns into flesh—then bark—before your eyes. 📸:Abs
Look closer: Apollo’s hand grazes her as she changes.
Her scream is silent, carved in stone.
Bernini didn’t just sculpt a scene…
—he captured time itself.
A split second of myth, made immortal.
🎥:Abs. (The video was perfect, Abs without modesty)👇
Her scream is silent, carved in stone.
Bernini didn’t just sculpt a scene…
—he captured time itself.
A split second of myth, made immortal.
🎥:Abs. (The video was perfect, Abs without modesty)👇
Ovid’s Metamorphoses gave Bernini the words.
He gave it life.
The wind twists Apollo’s hair. Daphne’s eyes widen in terror.
It’s not just art, t’s poetry in marble.
How did a 24-year-old pull this off?
📸:Abs
He gave it life.
The wind twists Apollo’s hair. Daphne’s eyes widen in terror.
It’s not just art, t’s poetry in marble.
How did a 24-year-old pull this off?
📸:Abs
Compare it to Pollaiuolo’s painting: flat, distant, moralizing.
Or Poussin’s calm, classic scenes.
Bernini’s is raw,
— Apollo’s lust, Daphne’s fear leap out.
It’s not a picture. It’s a pulse.
Or Poussin’s calm, classic scenes.
Bernini’s is raw,
— Apollo’s lust, Daphne’s fear leap out.
It’s not a picture. It’s a pulse.
In Catholic Rome, it was a lesson: virtue beats lust.
Daphne’s escape was her triumph.
But today? Scholars see her terror as a loss, her body traded for freedom.
Is it victory or tragedy?
Daphne’s escape was her triumph.
But today? Scholars see her terror as a loss, her body traded for freedom.
Is it victory or tragedy?
Bernini lived it too.
He chased a married woman, attacked his brother in a rage, got fined by the Pope.
Was Apollo his mirror? A god obsessed, then broken?
— Art and life blur in the marble. 📸:Abs
He chased a married woman, attacked his brother in a rage, got fined by the Pope.
Was Apollo his mirror? A god obsessed, then broken?
— Art and life blur in the marble. 📸:Abs
It nearly left Rome, almost sold to Napoleon.
But it stayed, now shining in the Galleria Borghese.
Cleaned, studied, adored for 400 years.
A fragile miracle of survival. 📸:Abs
But it stayed, now shining in the Galleria Borghese.
Cleaned, studied, adored for 400 years.
A fragile miracle of survival. 📸:Abs
Why care?
It’s not just a statue—it’s us.
• Desire.
• Fear.
• Change.
Bernini makes you feel the myth in your bones.
In a world of quick scrolls, that’s power. 📸:Abs
It’s not just a statue—it’s us.
• Desire.
• Fear.
• Change.
Bernini makes you feel the myth in your bones.
In a world of quick scrolls, that’s power. 📸:Abs
Loved this?
— Follow @JScotteswood,
at Art Beyond Subjectivity for more art that hits deep.
What struck you most?👇👇
— Follow @JScotteswood,
at Art Beyond Subjectivity for more art that hits deep.
What struck you most?👇👇
Bibliographic References:
• All the photos were taken by me, including the beautiful video haha
• COLLEZIONE GALLERIA BORGHESE. “Apollo and Daphne” – Bernini Gian
Lorenzo. Collezione Borghese Online Catalog. Available at:
collezionegalleriaborghese.it/en/opere/apoll….
Accessed: May 12, 2025.
• PIMENTEL, Antonio Marcos G. “Apollo and Daphne by Bernini: the
plausibility of Latin mythological literature in Baroque sculpture.” IV Art
History Meeting – IFCH/UNICAMP, Proceedings, 2008. Available at:
ifch.unicamp.br/eha/atas/2008/…
i.pdf.
• DI SEVO ROSA, Dafne. “The Myth of Daphne in the Sculptures of Bernini and
Lily Garafulic: Ideological Ramifications in the Baroque and Modernity.”
Revista Entrelaces, v.1, n.12, p.172-183, 2018. DOI: 10.36517/Entrelaces.12.13.
(Federal University of Ceará, Brazil).
• POLLAIUOLO, Piero (attrib.). “Apollo and Daphne” (c.1470–1480). Oil on
wood, 29.5 × 20 cm, National Gallery, London. In: História das Artes – Obras
analisadas, 2019. Available at: historiadasartes.com/apolo-dafne-
pollauiolo/.
• BERNINI, Gian Lorenzo. “Apollo and Daphne” (1622–25). Marble, 243 cm.
Galleria Borghese, Rome. Museum commentary in: FELICI, Sonja (ed.).
Bernini Scultore: la nascita del barocco in Casa Borghese. Rome, 1998/2017.
• WITTKOWER, Rudolf. Art and Architecture in Italy: 1600–1750. 4th ed. São
Paulo: WMF Martins Fontes, 2013. (Discussion of Apollo and Daphne, pp. 102–
104).
• HIBBARD, Howard. Bernini. New York: Penguin Books, 1990. (Chapter 2,
“The Early Borghese Sculptures,” analysis of Apollo and Daphne).
• OVID. Metamorphoses. Translated by David Medeiros. São Paulo: Hedra, 2009.
(Book I, verses 452–567: the story of Apollo and Daphne).
• GIRARD, Yves (quoted in BRUNEL, Pierre, ed.). Dictionary of Literary Myths.
Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 2005. (Entry “Daphne,” pp. 204–206).
• MANILLI, Giacomo. Villa Borghese fuori di Porta Pinciana (guide), Rome,
1650. (Original description of the placement of Apollo and Daphne, p. 70
• All the photos were taken by me, including the beautiful video haha
• COLLEZIONE GALLERIA BORGHESE. “Apollo and Daphne” – Bernini Gian
Lorenzo. Collezione Borghese Online Catalog. Available at:
collezionegalleriaborghese.it/en/opere/apoll….
Accessed: May 12, 2025.
• PIMENTEL, Antonio Marcos G. “Apollo and Daphne by Bernini: the
plausibility of Latin mythological literature in Baroque sculpture.” IV Art
History Meeting – IFCH/UNICAMP, Proceedings, 2008. Available at:
ifch.unicamp.br/eha/atas/2008/…
i.pdf.
• DI SEVO ROSA, Dafne. “The Myth of Daphne in the Sculptures of Bernini and
Lily Garafulic: Ideological Ramifications in the Baroque and Modernity.”
Revista Entrelaces, v.1, n.12, p.172-183, 2018. DOI: 10.36517/Entrelaces.12.13.
(Federal University of Ceará, Brazil).
• POLLAIUOLO, Piero (attrib.). “Apollo and Daphne” (c.1470–1480). Oil on
wood, 29.5 × 20 cm, National Gallery, London. In: História das Artes – Obras
analisadas, 2019. Available at: historiadasartes.com/apolo-dafne-
pollauiolo/.
• BERNINI, Gian Lorenzo. “Apollo and Daphne” (1622–25). Marble, 243 cm.
Galleria Borghese, Rome. Museum commentary in: FELICI, Sonja (ed.).
Bernini Scultore: la nascita del barocco in Casa Borghese. Rome, 1998/2017.
• WITTKOWER, Rudolf. Art and Architecture in Italy: 1600–1750. 4th ed. São
Paulo: WMF Martins Fontes, 2013. (Discussion of Apollo and Daphne, pp. 102–
104).
• HIBBARD, Howard. Bernini. New York: Penguin Books, 1990. (Chapter 2,
“The Early Borghese Sculptures,” analysis of Apollo and Daphne).
• OVID. Metamorphoses. Translated by David Medeiros. São Paulo: Hedra, 2009.
(Book I, verses 452–567: the story of Apollo and Daphne).
• GIRARD, Yves (quoted in BRUNEL, Pierre, ed.). Dictionary of Literary Myths.
Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 2005. (Entry “Daphne,” pp. 204–206).
• MANILLI, Giacomo. Villa Borghese fuori di Porta Pinciana (guide), Rome,
1650. (Original description of the placement of Apollo and Daphne, p. 70
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