“The Art of Complicity“
Scott Veitch
Law & Literature
Published online: March 2025
Abstract: This article considers the relation between art and complicity in wrongdoing. To do so, it offers a series of reflections on the theme of ‘Apollo and Daphne’, a story told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and given sculptural form in the seventeenth century by Gianlorenzo Bernini. By understanding Bernini’s creation within the political, legal, and religious conflicts of its time, it analyses how artworks resonate in their ambient culture and beyond. Finally, it addresses the relationships amongst art, artist, and audiences and the risk of complicity in wrongdoing they share.