Apollo and Daphne
Medium
tapestry: undyed wool warp, dyed wool and silk weft
Classification
Decorative Art
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Lewis Einstein
Accession Number
1951.1.1
Art Historical Context
This magnificent tapestry captures the dramatic climax of the ancient myth from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in which the god Apollo pursues the nymph Daphne. As she flees his advances, she calls upon her father, the river god Peneus, and is transformed into a laurel tree—her fingers sprouting leaves and her feet taking root in the earth. Designed by the French painter Charles de La Fosse around 1713–1721, the composition was translated into a full-scale cartoon by Brussels artists Zeger Jacob van Helmont and Augustin Coppens before being woven in the prestigious Leyniers-Reydams workshop. Created a...