Apollo and Daphne

A naked god chasing a naked girl, in a cardinal's villa in the 1620s, came with a moral attached. On the base of this group is a Latin couplet written by Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII. It warns that whoever chases the pleasures of fleeting beauty ends up with a handful of leaves, or bitter berries. The story comes from Ovid. Apollo, struck by Cupid's arrow, pursues the nymph Daphne, and just as he catches her she begs for help and turns into a laurel tree. Bark is closing over her legs, her fingers are sprouting leaves, her toes are taking root. Bernini worked on it from 1622 to 1625, and the final payment, 1000 scudi, came in November 1625. He meant it to be seen differently. It first stood against a wall, so that a visitor coming in met Apollo first, from his right side, and only walking round did you see Daphne changing. It was turned to face the entrance of the room by 1785, and that is how you see it today.