Apollo and Marsyas (ceiling panel)
by RAFFAELLO Sanzio, Fresco, 120 x 105 cm
The shepherd Marsyas had challenged the god Apollo to a musical contest. Marsyas lost and as a punishment for daring to challenge a god he was flayed alive. The scene is an allegory of divine harmony triumphing over earthly passion. With its unrhythmical composition and its elongated figures, this scene is probably by an unknown hand, and not by Raphael.