Languages of Baroque
Illusion, Gesture and Movement
Baroque sculptures conquer surrounding space and their surfaces are animated by picturesque changes of light and shadow.
Baroque sculpture conquers surrounding space and their surfaces are animated by picturesque changes of light and shadow, creating the effect of real flesh and cloth. Although the essence of Baroque sculpture seems to be the freedom of movement, which, consequently, allows the beholder to choose the point of view at will, simultaneously, it invites us to stand at a certain point in order to allow the formal and emotional qualities of the work to achieve their highest performance. The will to create the illusion of marble and the intention to capture light in wooden Baroque sculpture resulted in the use of monochromatic marmorisation and gold plate.
Apollo and Daphne

1622–1625
Borghese Gallery
Rome, Latium, Italy
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Marble
Gian Lorenzo Bernini executed the group between 1622 and 1625. Such a pagan myth (Ovid, Metamorphosis) in the cardinals house is explained by a moral distich by Maffeo Barberini (Urbano VIII, 1623–44) on the theme of Vanitas: "those who love to pursue fleeting forms of pleasure, in the end find only leaves and bitter berries in their hands."