Contest between Muses and Pierides

Originally this small panel probably decorated a spinet. It is composed of luminous highlights against a romantically dark background. The grotesque birds flying off with the score and musical instruments illustrate the end of the story with a twist of irony on the artist’s part: transformed into magpies as punishment for having lost the contest, the daughters of Peirides already seem to be seeking revenge. The literary source is Ovid’s Metamorphoses.