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The paintings by Langetti mostly represent figural subjects: philosophers, heroes from Greek and Roman Antiquity, mythology or the Bible, and frequently composed of one or three half-length figures.
The mythological subject of the present painting is presented in its musical context, with a depiction of Apollo and the satyr Marsyas. Convinced that his wind instrument will play the most beautiful music, Marsyas provokes Apollo, who plays a viol, and who accepts the challenge as long as the winner may impose any penalty on the loser. The consequence of the Olympian god's musical superiority is well known: Marsyas is tied to a pine tree and flayed alive.
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