The Musical Contest between Apollo and Marsyas

The Musical Contest depicts the fatal challenge on Apollo made by the satyr Marsyas as described in Ovid´s Metamorphoses. Marsyas was, despite playing his flute very skilfully, outshined by Apollo who, furious at the very attempt to challenge the God of music, had Marsyas skinned alive. Although most artists focused on the gruesome outcome of the contest a fairly popular subject, in fact – van Poelengburgh decided to make his painting a bit more serene but with a menacing storm cloud building up on the background to remind the viewer of Marsya´s unhappy end.