Italian school; 17th century. "Apollo and Marsyas". Oil on canvas. Re-coloured. It presents damages and repainting. Measurements: 160 x 121 cm. In the contest between Apollo and Marsyas, which was judged by the muses or nysean nymphs, the terms established that the winner could treat the defeated group in any way he wanted. Marsyas played his flute, sending everyone there into a frenzy, and they began to dance wildly. When it was Apollo's turn, he played his lyre so well that everyone was still and in tears. There are several versions of the contest; according to Hyginius, Marsyas was the winner after the first round, when Apollo, turning his lyre upside down, played the same melody. This was something Marsyas could not do with his flute. According to Diodorus Siculus, Marsyas was defeated when Apollo added his voice to the sound of the lyre. Marsyas protested, arguing that skill should be compared to the instrument, not the voice. However, Apollo replied that when Marsyas blew, he himself was doing much the same thing. The Nysean nymphs supported Apollo's claim, which led to his victory. However, another version claims that Marsyas played the flute out of tune and therefore accepted his defeat. Out of shame, he assigned himself the penalty of being flayed by a wineskin. He was flayed alive in a cave near Celaenae for his arrogance in defying a god. Later Apollo nailed Marsyas' skin to a pine tree near Lake Aulocrene, which Strabo noticed was full of the reeds from which pipes were made. The classical Greeks were unaware of such shamanistic connotations, and the flaying of Marsyas became a subject of painting and sculpture. His brothers, nymphs, gods and goddesses mourned his death, and their tears, according to Ovid's Metamorphoses, were the source of the Marsyas river in Phrygia, which joins the Meander near Celaenae, where Herodotus reported that the flayed skin of Marsyas was still to be seen. Dimensions 160 x 121 cm.