Right corner of a marble sarcophagus with the myth of Apollo and the satyr Marsyas

This sculpture captures the violent climax of the myth of Marsyas, the satyr who challenged Apollo to a musical contest. Apollo is shown standing in the background while Marsyas kneels in the foreground, bound and awaiting his fate. The composition highlights the dramatic contrast between the restrained, divine posture of the god and the suffering, physical agony of the satyr.

The flaying of Marsyas was frequently interpreted in Renaissance Neoplatonic thought as an allegory for the purgation of the soul and the shedding of the 'beastly' or material self to achieve divine enlightenment. It represents the painful, transformative process of ascetic discipline required to harmonize the human spirit with the divine intellect.