MarsyasANCIENT_MetSarcophagus

Right corner of a marble sarcophagus with group of Marsyas' flaying, early 3rd century CE, Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 15.170, Rogers Fund, 1915.

The sculpted sarcophagus preserves the iconic motif of Marsyas and the Scythian slave tasked with the gruesome task. The Scythian whets his knife as he looks up to the satyr who challenged Apollo to a musical contest. Around the corner behind Marsyas another slave holds tight the bonds that hoist Marsyas high on the tree.

Both of the key figures depicted here, Marsyas and his flayer, are frequently depicted in individual sculptures that were meant to be displayed together but later separated. The Capitoline Marsyas, for instance, is no longer accompanied by its pendant piece; and, at the Uffizi Knife Grinder lacks the Marsyas.