Apollo and Daphne -Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who was a baroque sculptor gave the Borghese Museum collection many of his works including Apollo and Daphne. He sculpted this along with some help from his workshop between 1622 and 1625. This marble sculpture was commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese. It depicts the nymph Daphne who is being chased by Apollo, the god who was struck by Cupid's arrow and fell in love with Daphne who unfortunately doesn't love him back. Bernini creates the very moment of her morphing into a laurel tree as to stop Apollo from getting what he wants. We can see Apollo with his one arm around her torso as her fingers sprout leaves and branches and the bark climbs up her leg and her toes become roots into the ground, Apollo is too late. Bernini skilfully creates this exact moment where we can see the momentum as if she will transform before our eyes. This defines the baroque period; the exact moment of optimum action and the movement captured, with such grace and elegance. It is appreciated at many angles. This is Pagan sculpture if you haven't noticed already but it is justified be a moral rule that reads: Those who love to pursue fleeting forms of pleasure, in the end find only leaves and bitter berries in their hands." Which means that we shouldn't chase the pleasurable things in life, we should rejoice in the love of god, because if we don't we won't be satisfied in the end.