The painting is inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses. On the left we find the scene in which Apollo is preparing to kill the snake Python, of which however today we distinguish only the figure of Apollo, with the bow stretched, ready to inflict the final blow to the monster that was to be placed in front of him. Continue to the right where, in the center in the background, the dispute takes place between Apollo, on earth, and Cupid, in the sky on a cloud. Apollo boasts of his recent feat and denigrates the abilities of the boy Cupid as an archer; he decides to take revenge, shooting Apollo the arrow that will make him fall in love with the first girl he will see. Another arrow is prepared with the tip upside down in order to put the love of the woman who will be hit on the run: the nymph Daphne. Apollo begins to chase Daphne who, seeing herself reached, invokes the help of her father the god-river Peneus, (perhaps the very river that flows under the bridge). Her prayer is answered and she is represented in the act of transforming herself into a laurel.