Apollo in Love with Daphne

Apollo and Daphne is an oil on canvas painting by Nicolas Poussin, made between 1661 and 1664, shortly before the painter's death. It is now held in the Louvre, in Paris. The scene includes Apollo and Daphne alongside Cupid, a river and a mountain, as well as other elements such as a cow and a figure of Mercury. This mix of characters and landscape places the narrative in a wide natural setting, where the figures share the space in a carefully ordered way. Poussin worked in a calm mythological register, with a clear and well-structured composition typical of his late period. Detailed information about the meaning of each element is limited, so it is wise to be cautious when interpreting them.

As for its history, the painter himself gave the work to Cardinal Camillo Massimi. It later passed into the collection of Guillaume Guillon Lethière and then into that of Sébastien Érard. In 1832 Charles Paillet, an expert commissioner for the French royal collections, acquired it and suggested that the Musée des beaux-arts de Rouen buy it; the proposal was turned down, and the painting ended up with its current owner in 1869. This path shows how Poussin's works circulated among collectors and experts in the nineteenth century and explains why it is in Paris today.

Painter

Nicolas Poussin

Date

1664

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

155 × 200 cm

Museum

Louvre Museum, Paris

Genre

mythological painting

Depicts

Mercury, cow, broad-leaved tree, Daphne, Apollo, Cupid, main stem, mountain

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