Apollo and Daphne is a transformation myth. No written or artistic versions survive from ancient Greek mythology, so it is likely Hellenistic in origin. It was retold by Roman authors in the form of an amorous vignette.
Peter Paul Rubens – Apollo and the Python, 1636–1637
Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Apollo and Daphne.
Apollo and Daphne, fresco from Pompeii, 1st century
A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel, an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom or cherry laurel. It is a symbol of triumph and is worn as a chaplet around the head, or as a garland around the neck.
An actress performing a play. She wears a laurel wreath and stands in front of a statue of a woman from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (room 21, The British Museum, London)
Ovid with laurel wreath, common in poets