Apollo was the great Olympian god of light and the sun, prophecy and oracles, healing, plague and disease, music, song and poetry, archery, and the protection of the young. His father was Zeus and his twin sister was the virgin goddess Diana Artemis the Huntress. He was depicted as a handsome, beardless youth with long hair and various attributes including: a wreath and branch of laurel; bow and quiver; raven; and lyre. Medicine and healing were associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius.
Strong willed and powerful Diana (Greek name Artemis) was the goddess of the hunt and of the moon with deadly arrows. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin sister of Apollo. In the Battle of the Giants, she killed the Giant Gration with the help of Heracles (Heracles). One famous story said that the twins shot all of Niobe’s fourteen children dead with their arrows to punish her slight to Leto. Remained unmarried, Artemis was also the protectress of children, always accompanied by deer and her beloved animals.
Here are some artist renderings which illustrate Apollo and Diana. Baroque artist Tiepolo painted him on an illusionistic ceiling showing him up in the sky with Diana by his side. He glides through the clouds holding Diana’s arrows and his lyre instrument. Albrecht Durer engraved Apollo testing out Diana’s bow and arrows as she sits by him with her stag.



Louis XIV viewed himself after Apollo and fashioned the iconography of Versailles around Apollo. In this illustration of Louis XIV wearing a golden costume, the sun appears on his breastplate while sun rays appear on his shoes.
A german porcelain manufacturer adapted Apollo and Diana into table top figurines.

