
Apollo and Daphne
Oil on canvas
h: 75,50 w: 139 cm
Private collection
This painting illustrates an episode taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (I, 464–577). Falling in love with the nymph Daphne, determined to remain chaste, Apollo pursues her in the woods. Begging her father, the river god Peneus, to deliver her, Daphne is then transformed into a laurel. Louis de Boullogne produced a first illustration of the theme, probably in the 1680s. This painting has recently reappeared on the art market. More on this painting
Louis de Boullogne II (19 November 1654–2 November 1733), known as Boullogne fils, was a French painter.
Boullogne was born and died in Paris, and was the brother of Bon Boullogne. Their father, Louis Boullogne, feared rivalry between the two brothers if Louis the younger became a painter and so at first opposed his wish to do so. However, his vocation finally won through and every evening Louis crossed Paris to go with Bon to draw at the Académie. Aged 18 he won the grand prix de peinture and left for Rome in 1676, when his brother returned from there. He made copies after The School of Athens, Disputation of the Holy Sacrament and many other works by Raphael, from which the Gobelins made many different tapestries for the French king.