Château d'Écouen museum displays works of some of the most celebrated goldsmiths and silversmiths of the Renaissance. One notable example is the statuette of [[Daphne]] by [[Wenzel Jamnitzer]], a German craftsman from [[Nuremberg]], and the goldsmith to the Holy Roman emperors. It was made between 1569 and 1576. It depicts the Greek mythological story of [[Apollo and Daphne]] from the "Metamorphoses" of [[Ovid]], which was a popular subject in the Renaissance. The nymph Daphne is transformed into a laurel tree by her father, to protect her from the pursuit of [[Apollo]]. The statuette is made of gilded silver, with branches made of
Acanthis (mythology) Acanthis (mythology) In Greek mythology, Acanthis (Ancient Greek: Ἀκανθίς, "thornette") or Acanthyllis (Ancient Greek: Ἀκανθυλλίς) was the daughter of Hippodamia and Autonous and sister to Anthus, Erodius, Schoeneus and Acanthus. When their father's horses attacked Anthus out of hunger and ate him, Zeus and Apollo, out of pity for the grieving family, transformed them into birds. Acanthis thus became a thistle finch. In Antoninus Liberalis, "Metamorphoses", 7 recounts the whole story of Acanthis and her family's unfortunate fate:Autonous, son of Melaneus and Hippodamia, had as sons Erodius, Anthus, Schoeneus and Acanthus, with a daughter Acanthis to whom the gods granted