Clash of the Titians

Many believe too much in myth at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

At some point during a visit to Rome’s Borghese gallery, one almost inevitably realizes one is admiring Bernini sculptures that seem to glorify rape. That revelation struck me in 2018 as I watched visitors snap pictures of themselves eclipsing Bernini works, in which marble miraculously seems to become flesh.

In “Apollo and Daphne” (1622-25), the latter…