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Apollo Pierced by the Arrow of Love
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Bertin won the prix de Rome in 1685 for a painting depicting the "Construction of Noah's Ark". He was admitted to the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1703. He worked for royal and noble patrons and designed tapestries for Goblins.
In this painting, inspired by Ovid's "Metamorphoses," Eros has just shot a golden tipped arrow at Apollo that pierced is heart, This is the start of the story of Apollo and Daphne. Eros struck Daphne with an arrow tipped with lead that caused her to her reject all suitors. Eventually she was transformed into a laurel tree by Peneus (Mother Earth) to escape Apollo's advances.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1964 | Neo-Classicism: Style and Motif. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Overall: 23 1/2 × 19 3/4 in. (59.7 × 50.2 cm); Framed: H: 27 1/4 × W: 23 × D: 2 1/4 in. (69.2 × 58.4 × 5.7 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.863