Kneeling Marsyas with a Flute

The painting shows the moment when satyr Marsyas finds his flute that, just moments before, Goddess Athena had angrily thrown away. The Goddess had discovered that playing the flute distorted the beauty of her face and thus cursed the instrument without Marsyas knowledge. The cursed flute eventually caused satyr’s cruel death. Marsyas, sure of his skills in playing the flute proudly asked the very Apollo to a music competition. The God won the competition juried by the Muses and had Marsyas skinned alive.