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A Grotesque Mismatch

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The musical duel between Marsyas and Apollo is recounted by Herodotus and Ovid, among others, and has been a famously rendered subject by Raphael (1483-1520), Titian (c. 1487/90-1576) and Guercino (1591-1666). It is the vengeful tale of a vainglorious underdog, Marsyas, a silenus from an unattractive satyr-like race, challenging an opponent with vastly superior powers or Apollo, the god of music, archery, prophecy and medicine. With the Muses serving as judges, the outcome was all too predictable. The victorious Apollo had Marsyas strung to a pine tree and viciously flayed alive. As the woodland creatures lamented his callous death, their tears formed the River Marsyas, a tributary of the Meander. Marsyas skin, meanwhile, became a museum spectacle and was purportedly exhibited in ancient times at Celaenae, in modern Turkey.
The myth was given various interpretations over the centuries, particularly by Plato in his "Republic" and by Christian moralists in the medieval ages. My compulsion to illustrate the subject, however, was purely a vehicle for self-expression. On an emotional level, it allowed me to grasp the fury of Apollo and the wretchedness of Marsyas. A prospect that tapped into both fear and wonderment. The execution, conversely, resembled more a children's book.

Note: Above research and aforementioned title "Grotesque Mismatch" referenced from Ross King's "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling", Pimlico (2006)
Image size
3300x2698px 2.95 MB
© 2009 - 2024 fresco-child
Comments12
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Philhellenike's avatar
Very good depiction of Apollo's darker side. Mainly, you resisted the temptation to go for sadistic glee. This is the god of medecine as well as music, he's going to do this vivisection with scientific precision and coldness.  Poor Marsyas looks so pitiful and frightened :cry: you can almost hear him begging and screaming for help. 
It looks a lot like one of those old British children's books which included stories like this.  Very well executed. I like how the pleasantness of the surroundings contrasts with the horrific nature of the scene.