Apollo and Daphne
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
9 1/16 x 6 5/8 in. (23.0 x 16.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Harry G. Friedman, 1962
Accession Number
62.635.790
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the electrifying engraving *Apollo and Daphne* (1518), Italian artist Agostino Veneziano ( known as Agostino deii) masterfully interprets a design by sculptor Baccio Bandinelli. 9 1/16 x 6 5/8-inch print captures the climactic moment from Ovid'sMetamorphoses*, where the god Apollo pursues the nymph Daphne. Shot by Cupid's arrows—one igniting Apollo's passion, the other repelling Daphne—she begins her transformation into a laurel tree to evade his grasp. The composition bursts with Renaissance energy: dynamic poses, muscular male and female nudes, and the telltale bow and arrow symbolizing f...