# Apollo and Daphne

**John Singer Sargent** (American, 1856–1925)  
c. 1916/1919  
oil on canvas  
overall: 82.55 × 73.34 cm (32 1/2 × 28 7/8 in.) framed: 88.27 × 78.11 × 7.62 cm (34 3/4 × 30 3/4 × 3 in.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2014.136.69. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.194944.html).

## About this work

Apollo, golden-skinned and wrapped in billowing drapery, races towards the nymph Daphne just as she is transformed into a laurel tree, her feet rooting into the trunk and her head and hands sprouting leaves. The story comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Daphne prayed to escape the god’s pursuit and was changed into the laurel, which Apollo then made his sacred tree. Sargent turned to classical subjects of this kind late in his career, in the years when he was designing mural decorations on mythological themes for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

John Singer Sargent painted this in about 1916/1919, aged about 60. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

This is a painting showing two people in nature. The person on the left appears to be running towards the right, with one leg in the air and their arms outstretched. They have tan, golden-toned skin, blond hair, and golden fabric draped loosely around them, billowing backward as they run. On the right is a pale person standing upright in a tree, their arms outstretched. They appear intertwined with the tree, with their feet nestled in the light brown trunk and their head and hands covered in olive-green leaves. The background features indistinct brown shapes against a clear blue sky.

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [John Singer Sargent](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/john-singer-sargent)

American, 1856–1925; born in Florence; died in London

Sargent was born in Florence to American parents and grew up travelling across Europe. He trained in Paris under Carolus-Duran, and the scandal over his portrait Madame X at the 1884 Salon prompted his move to London, where he became the most sought-after society portraitist on both sides of the Atlantic. Around 1907 he largely gave up portrait commissions for watercolours made on his travels and for the murals he painted for the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was about 60
- Real size: about 33 × 29 in (83 × 73 cm). The 20 × 30 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 20th century
- Subjects: classical, Apollo and Daphne
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1690.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1690/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/apollo-and-daphne-nga-194944).