The god Apollo pursued the nymph Daphne. She prayed for rescue and was turned into a laurel tree as he touched her. The story appears in the 'Metamorphoses' of the classical Roman poet Ovid. Such pagan fables were popular subjects for the decoration of furniture in Florence. The landscape, like that in the altarpiece of the 'Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian', is based on the Arno valley near Florence, and is likely to date from the same period.
EB-J was very familiar with this painting through reproductions and used the composition (reversed) for Phyllis and Demophoon. Evidence of Burne-Jones's admiration for the work of Pollaiuolo is given in Memorials Vol2 p 21 in a extract from a letter from Ruskin to the artist in 1871 "Then follows an almost pathetic recognition of their "quarrel," with a fling at Signorelli and Pollajuolo, whom he knew Edward specially honoured "I never thought you and I should ever differ about figure drawings til that great schism about the Orvieto man - I forget his name - it's cold today and my brain frozen - (Pollajuolo also I can't stand).""