Apollo and Daphne (Pollaiuolo)

Apollo and Daphne (c. 1470–1480)

Apollo and Daphne is a c.1470–1480 oil on panel painting, attributed to Piero del Pollaiuolo and/or his brother Antonio). William Coningham acquired it in Rome in 1845 and in 1876 Wynne Ellis left it to the National Gallery, London, where it still hangs.[1] It shows Daphne's transformation into a laurel tree to escape Apollo in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Its choice of wood as a support and its small dimensions mean that it was long mistaken as a fragment of a decorative cassone.[2] It was long attributed to Antonio but is now usually attributed to Piero. The background vegetation was previously brighter but is now irreversibly oxidized.[3]

  1. ^ "Piero del Pollaiuolo | Apollo and Daphne". National Gallery, London. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  2. ^ Aldo Galli, I Pollaiolo, collana "Galleria delle arti" n.7, Milano, 5 Continents Editions, 2005, p. 36 ISBN 88-7439-115-3
  3. ^ Louise Govier, The National Gallery, guida per i visitatori, Louise Rice, London 2009. ISBN 9781857094701