Here, Apollo appears in his role as a solar deity, standing atop a celestial sphere and sending forth arrows that signify the rays of the sun. The print depicts the moment when night, symbolized by Apollo's sister Diana, goddess of the moon, gives way to day. Devoted to the hunt, the chaste Diana (the Greek Artemis) is accompanied by a deer.

It was through engravings such as this one, with its idealized nude figures, that Barbari, who was also a painter, influenced artists throughout Europe, including the German printmaker Albrecht Dürer.

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