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by Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) Galleria Borghese, Rome |
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Bonded White Marble on Marble Base $439 (less Internet discount of $40) = $399 (freight $26) Apollo and Daphne 12" H (Similar to Above Bonded White Marble on Marble Base $132 (less Internet discount of $20) = $112 (freight $14) |
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Bernini commenced carving Apollo and Daphne
from a solid block of white marble as soon as he had finished
Pluto and Persephone. When it was completed, slightly more than
a year later, "All Rome rushed to see it as though it were
a miracle." The statue depicts that precise moment of the
myth when the pursuing Apollo catches up with Daphne and she,
assisted by her father the river god, turns into a laurel tree
to escape his grasp. We see leaves sprouting from her fingers
and hair, and a sheath of bark enfolding her delicate body. Not
only do we see that dramatic moment frozen for eternity, but,
by the sweeping movement implied in the figures, our mind expands
the space surrounding the statue to include the path of the pursuit.
The dazzling virtuosity of the carving, the dramatic presentation,
and the beauty and grace of the figures need no comment. This item is imported from Italy. It is the same as that previously available from Eleganza in Seattle. |
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