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Source Description
In this gruesome mythological scene, Apollo begins to flay, or peel the skin off, the satyr Marsyas as punishment for his arrogant challenge in a musical contest. The surrounding Olympian gods show reactions ranging from horror to fascination. The artist Johannes Stradanus helped found the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno (Academy of the Arts of Drawing) in Florence in 1563, which instituted a course of training for artists that included observing a human dissection. In making this image, Stradanus very likely understood the flaying of Marsyas as a metaphor for the importance of dissection and anatomical study to the artist.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
312174
label
The Flaying of Marsyas
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
312174
contentType
drawing
title
The Flaying of Marsyas
description
In this gruesome mythological scene, Apollo begins to flay, or peel the skin off, the satyr Marsyas as punishment for his arrogant challenge in a musical contest. The surrounding Olympian gods show reactions ranging from horror to fascination. The artist Johannes Stradanus helped found the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno (Academy of the Arts of Drawing) in Florence in 1563, which instituted a course of training for artists that included observing a human dissection. In making this image, Stradanus very likely understood the flaying of Marsyas as a metaphor for the importance of dissection and anatomical study to the artist.
date
c. 1570–1605
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79873649
creators
312171
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 21.1 x 31.5 cm (8 5/16 x 12 3/8 in.)
cul
Netherlands, 16th - 17th century
accession
2018.26
Source extras
tec
Pen and brown ink and brown and red washes, heightened with white paint (or gouache), on paper prepared with red washes
tombstone
The Flaying of Marsyas, c. 1570–1605. Jan van der Straet, called Johannes Stradanus (Netherlandish, active Italy, 1523–1605). Pen and brown ink and brown and red washes, heightened with white paint (or gouache), on paper prepared with red washes; sheet: 21.1 x 31.5 cm (8 5/16 x 12 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2018.26
collection
DR - Belgian
inscriptions
inscription
Inscribed LR in pen and ink “Strada. / STRADENSIS”
citations
citation
Peters, Emily and Salsbury, Britany. “Acquisitions 2018: Prints and Drawings.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>vol. 59, no. 2 (March/April 2019): 20-23.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 20.
creditline
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:54:33.314000
sourceId
312174
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - Belgian
med
Pen and brown ink and brown and red washes, heightened with white paint (or gouache), on paper prepared with red washes
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
5b92df4b41d56595