Apollo and Marsyas

Attributed to Benedetto Luti (Rome ca. 1690).
The attribution to Luti is suggested by the style of the painting as well as comparison to a compositional study referred to in the catalog of "Drawings by Old Masters at Christ Church, Oxford" (see notes in entry 662). The subject is the musical competition between the satyr Marsyas and the god Apollo, which Marsyas lost. Apollo punished Marsyas by tying him to a tree and flaying him alive. Here the satyr is already bound and Apollo is about to make his first cut as horrified satyrs flee the scene.

Relined, cleaned and inpainted where damaged.

Provenance: New York estate sale

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