Lot Essay
A pupil of Chantrey, Marshall Wood (d.1882) lived and worked in London exhibiting at the Royal Academy and British Institution from 1854. In 1859 he exhibited an unfinished version in marble of Daphne at the Academy. There are no records to suggest that Wood sculpted two versions of the figure, thus it is most probable that the present is that which was exhibited, completed by Wood at a later date. Benézit lists Daphne as being in a collection in Melbourne and it is likely that the figure was exhibited at the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880, the year that Wood himself was visiting the city, there to supervise the installation of his statue of Queen Victoria in Parliament House.
The nymph Daphne was the first and most celebrated of Apollo's loves. Ovid recounts how Apollo was struck by Cupid's golden arrow, kindling love and Daphne by a leaden arrow, that puts love to flight. Symbolizing the victory of Chastity over Love, Daphne fled from the God and turned into a laurel bush. Here she is depicted in full flight, the upturned urn of her river god father, Peneus, at her feet.
The nymph Daphne was the first and most celebrated of Apollo's loves. Ovid recounts how Apollo was struck by Cupid's golden arrow, kindling love and Daphne by a leaden arrow, that puts love to flight. Symbolizing the victory of Chastity over Love, Daphne fled from the God and turned into a laurel bush. Here she is depicted in full flight, the upturned urn of her river god father, Peneus, at her feet.