Apollo and Daphne 1518

Curator: This print, "Apollo and Daphne," was created around 1518 by Agostino Veneziano. It's currently housed here at the Met. Editor: The moment you see it, there’s something tragic and frantic about it, don't you think? The crisp lines almost make the figures appear caught mid-shriek. And her expression! It is haunting! Curator: Precisely! Agostino is illustrating Ovid’s tale. We see Apollo, bow in hand, reaching for Daphne as she transforms into a laurel tree. The chase is ending...violently, I think. The artist is really interested in this intersection of desire and forced transformation, how male authority manifests in controlling, almost punishing ways the female body. Editor: See, for me it is interesting the amount of skin in display. The cool thing here is this really human portrayal of these immortal beings. Daphne's desperate, raw transformation, all these visible sinews. And it reminds you of this weird push and pull within us all, between being truly seen and known versus the deep, deep desire for agency and, at times, to utterly vanish. I imagine this artist probably tapped into a real human sentiment, like feeling so trapped you’d rather become a tree, right? Curator: The interesting historical layer is the role of printmaking in spreading these ideas and forms, particularly the classical nude, during the Renaissance. Consider how this print, multiplied and disseminated, contributed to a visual culture steeped in mythology, shaping understandings of beauty and power. How notions about social hierarchies and what sort of "transformation" they force on us daily gets encoded into popular iconography. Editor: Hmm, true...I guess it comes down to, are we witnessing metamorphosis or are we witnessing violation? Is this powerful or is it tragic? It depends who you ask, I think. Curator: Absolutely, and that tension makes this print so enduringly compelling. Editor: Forever relevant, alas!