Apollo and Marsyas

Artistafter Antonio Gai (Italian, 1686 – 1769)

Dateearly 20th century

MediumStone

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineBequest of John Ringling, 1936

Object numberSN5135

According to Greek and Roman myth, a musical competition was held between the god Apollo and the satyr Marsyas, a contest that Apollo won, his skill with the lyre judged greater than Marsyas’ with the <i>aulos</i>, a double flute. As victor, Apollo meted out the punishment, skinning Marsyas alive for having dared to challenge a god. This final act of the story was represented in multiple artistic media in the ancient world, including life-size sculpture, invariably showing Marsyas tied to a tree, awaiting his fate. Interest in the story was renewed in the Renaissance, and in the 16th century artists began to show the satyr bound upside down, an iconographical choice borrowed perhaps from the <i>pittura infamante</i> (defamation portrait) genre common at the time, or meant to resemble the pose of a slaughtered pig. Apollo is shown here tying Marsyas to a tree, the goat hooves clearly visible, while pinning the satyr to the ground with his leg. The original statue has been assigned as an early work by Antonio Gai and is largely indebted to a marble sculpture of a similar scheme by renowned Venetian artist Antonio Corradini (1688-1752), now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

On View

On view

Location