Apollo and Daphne" This famous sculpture is by the famous Italian sculptor, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). It was inspired by one of the stories included in Ovid`s Metamorphoses. The Story Behind the Sculpture: In the story, Apollo, god of prophecy, sees the young Eros, god of love, playing with his bow and arrows and remarks, "What have you to do with warlike weapons? Leave them for hands worthy of them." In retribution for this reproach, Eros wounds Apollo with a golden arrow, causing him to fall in love with the nymph daughter of the river God, Peneus. Eros additionally wounds the beautiful nymph, Daphne, with a lead arrow, thus insuring she would not be wooed by Apollo`s advances. (In fact, the arrow`s power was so strong that Daphne forthwith refused all of her lovers.) Apollo, struck with the golden arrow of love, pleads with Daphne to fulfill his desire. Daphne, repulsed by the idea, begins to flee. Even as she runs, he is more captivated by her beauty. Apollo grows impatient and soon, sped by Eros, gains on her. With slower speed and failing strength, Daphne cries out to her father just as Apollo captures her. Not a moment later, Daphne`s skin turns to bark, her hair leaves, her arms branches, her feet roots, and her face a treetop. In only a moment, Peneus protects his daughter by turning her into a laurel tree. After the transformation Apollo still embraces the tree. He cuts off some of her branches and leaves to make a wreath and proclaims the laurel as a sacred tree. Bernini`s sculpture captures Daphne`s transformation with intense emotion and drama by portraying the different stages of her changes. The interlocking components and chiaroscuro create more narrative, reflecting foundations of Hellenistic Greek art. Cast in bronze and signed "Bernini." About the Artist: Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (December 7, 1598 - November 28, 1680) was a pre-eminent Baroque sculptor, architect, and painter of 17th Century Rome. He was the son of a sculptor and studied with his father who also helped him gain early patronage. Extensive patronage from the powerful Borghese and Barberini families contributed to his notoriety, but, from the beginning, Bernini was a virtuosic sculptor. For Cardinal Scipione Borghese, he produced a series of sculptures of subjects from Ovid`s Metamorphoses and from the Bible (1618-25). These works show Bernini`s ability to use the observer`s space to expand the possibilities of sculpture beyond the medium itself. Apollo and Daphne, for instance, shows Daphne trying to escape from the pursuing Apollo and turning into a laurel tree as she does so. The observer must walk around the sculpture to witness Daphne`s transformation, thus denying a unitary viewpoint. This type of multiple viewpoint was common in Mannerist sculpture.