Roman copy of the 1st-2nd century after a Hellenistic original, executed in the Pergamene artistic milieu of the II century B.C., Marsyas hanging on the tree as he is going to be flayed by Apollo, Pentelic marble ( body), Docimaean marble( tree trunk ), 268 x 66 x 53 cm, The Louvre, Paris
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book VI, tells the story of Marsyas’ punishment by Apollo. The satyr Marsyas, who challenged Apollo to a music contest and lost, is hanging from a pine tree branch, awaiting his punishment.
Discovered in Rome between 1617 and 1619 near the Baths of Diocletian, the statue of Marsyas quickly inspired numerous copies and widespread appreciation. The composition’s roots are believed to originate from a bronze group created in Pergamon around 200 BC. The theme was very popular in the ancient world, resulting in many copies in bronze and marble, often as part of sculptural compositions and bas-reliefs. This reconstructed statue is a Roman copy of a Greek original that has not survived.
