9th
After the decoration of the Loggia, Raphael’s pupils later reaffirmed their interest in classical antiquity and its interpretation in the decoration of the Loggetta of Cardinal Bibbiena. The decorative program consisted of grotesque figures and of scenes from the Apollo myth. Only two of the three original paintings have been preserved. The scholar, Regid de Campos, reconstructed the third scene, whose theme was almost certainly the Flaying of Marsyas. The other two scenes represent Olympus praying to Apollo, and Apollo and Marsyas.
In Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double flute that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged Apollo to a contest of music and lost his hide and life. In Antiquity, literary sources often emphasise the hubris of Marsyas and the justice of his punishment.
