How to Read Paintings: Apollo Pursuing Daphne by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

A vivid and lively painting that captures an ill-fated love story

Apollo Pursuing Daphne (c. 1755/1760) by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Oil on canvas. 68.5 × 87 cm. National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, U.S. Image source public domain.

This image is full of light and motion. A young man dashes up a hillside, pointing in the direction of a woman who appears to have tree leaves sprouting from her fingertips. It is a vivid image, not least because of the bold sense…