Marsyas

3D Model

Marble sculpture of Marsyas by Balthasar Permoser, ca 1680-1865. From the European wing of the Metropolitan Museam of Art in NYC.

The Satyr Marsyas challenged the god Apollo to a musical competition where the winner picked the punishment for the loser. When the Satyr inevitably lost to the god, Apollo had him skinned alive. An apt punishment for the hubris to challenge a god? Or a cruel overreaction? The animal fur Marysas wears in this sculpture is tinged with irony given his fate.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/online-features/viewpoints/marsyas