Apollo, on whom Amor takes revenge by shooting him with an golden arrow, making him fall for the nymph Daphne, a disciple of Diana. The nymph, instead, is pierced by a dart made of lowly lead, rejects the god’s love, and begs her father, Peneus, a river god, to help her change the features that have aroused such passion. The sculpture represents the moment of Daphne‘s metamorphosis into a laurel tree. Her feet have already become roots and hands and hair a single leafy branch. Therefore laurel was to become dear to the god – who would tie it around his head – and be considered an attribute of artists and poets.