AN ITALIAN WHITE MARBLE FIGURAL GROUP OF APOLLO AND DAPHNE, ON PEDESTAL

The unveiling of the marble group Apollo and Daphne in 1625 caused an immediate sensation and created a celebrity of its creator, Gianlorenzo Bernini. Borrowing inspiration from Ovid's Metamorphosis, the group depicts a love-struck Apollo pursuing Daphne, the daughter of a river god, who is transformed into a laurel tree in order to escape Apollo's grasps. The popularity of the group endured into the 19th century when a number of revered artists, including Orazio Andreoni, reproduced the group commercially.